Poetry Reading After Action Report 2/9/2012
There was a pretty good turn out at the poetry reading last night, including some newcomers. One of the readers read a nostalgic love poem that mentioned listening to Bread and The Eagles. The poem reminded Jonathan of an interesting piece of trivia, which he shared. David Gates was a producer before he formed Bread, and had worked with Captain Beefheart.I did a little googling today and learned that he produced two of the good Captain's very early singles, and even wrote one of them.
I had three haiku to read. When Jonathan called me up, he mentioned that in the process of recent housecleaning he'd found some old sign-up sheets, and that there was one from May 1999 that had my name on it. I appreciated his mentioning that. I felt like a reader emeritus (although he wisely didn't use those words).
Here's the haiku:
Jimmy Castor
Cherry blossoms fall
And troglodytes are weeping
Their troubadour's gone
Etta James
Choir of angels
Upon seeing you arrive
Sing as one "At last!"
Don Cornelius
Soul train conductor
Has become a passenger
On the final train
All three of my poems for the February reading were for African-Americans. February is of course Black History Month. I almost commented on this interesting coincidence but decided not to. Remarks having anything to do with race are always a bit risky.
The reading wound up with a lovely young newcomer named Nina who read an erotic sestina. (I use erotic in the broad sense here...it evoked Ovid more than it did Anais Nin.) It was very heartfelt and skillfully written. Unlike a lot of sestinas, some of it's 6 words rhymed. That was a nice touch. I hope she comes back.
I had three haiku to read. When Jonathan called me up, he mentioned that in the process of recent housecleaning he'd found some old sign-up sheets, and that there was one from May 1999 that had my name on it. I appreciated his mentioning that. I felt like a reader emeritus (although he wisely didn't use those words).
Here's the haiku:
Jimmy Castor
Cherry blossoms fall
And troglodytes are weeping
Their troubadour's gone
Etta James
Choir of angels
Upon seeing you arrive
Sing as one "At last!"
Don Cornelius
Soul train conductor
Has become a passenger
On the final train
All three of my poems for the February reading were for African-Americans. February is of course Black History Month. I almost commented on this interesting coincidence but decided not to. Remarks having anything to do with race are always a bit risky.
The reading wound up with a lovely young newcomer named Nina who read an erotic sestina. (I use erotic in the broad sense here...it evoked Ovid more than it did Anais Nin.) It was very heartfelt and skillfully written. Unlike a lot of sestinas, some of it's 6 words rhymed. That was a nice touch. I hope she comes back.