Gig: Newark, Delaware
I've always felt bad that I did not give the gigs I did in Georgia earlier this year extra attention here. I don't always do write-ups for gigs I've done, but when I have the time and my work cycle hits just right, I do. Usually when I come back off the road something's happened that needs addressed immediately - poetry never sleeps - so I get thrown off from recapping some good stuff. That happened this time too, but I've resolved to give my hosts their proper due before I get back to the grind.
After Baltimore, I drove up to Newark and had dinner with Beverly -
brags2bitches - whom I've not spent nearly as much time with in person as I have online. I've always liked Beverly, and she's been a very gracious spirit to me and my poets. We've made her an honorary Writers' Block poet (in so much as I subscribe to art tribes) because she does these really cool things like hang in for my 24-hour feature for 22 hours long distance or send sick/grieving poets cards in the mail. These are things that she wouldn't ever admit to, but I have no problem declaring. I think it's a greatt hing to do for people yonly know from a LiveJournal or an internet broadcast. So I really like Beverly, and she clearly knows a good poem when she sees/hears one, so I was eager to get to her spot and give a good show.
The venue is a small, fine art gallery and the audience was small, but smart and great. Some cats from LJ and Slam world were in attendace - hey
revsaintmichael and
diva_dot and Matt (who simply MUST have an LJ, but I don't know it offhand) - and that's always nice. Rev even read a poem he got from a writing prompt I posted a while back. That the poem is awesome made me feel awesome, and I felt like I could dig a little bit into The Gold Folder for this set, so I did
I don't have my poems in front of me, but here is what I did to the best of my recollection.
1) Whuppins
2) Elementary
3) How To Build a Juke Joint
4) Moonbounce
5) Perseus
6) Comfort Woman's Gold
7) Queen Takes Black Knight
8) Shaman
I don't know about those guys, but I had a blast. I don't usually read stuff from the Watering Hole: Juke Joint Poems book, so I rectified that here. I really am proud of the book, but I'm a horrible salesman. Let's just say that if you don't have that book, you don't have one of the best things I've ever done. I've only read Moonbounce twice - at Larry's before the book came out and at the 24-hour reading when I read the whole book - and it played well. Perseus - which I posted here a little bit ago - is just cool to me.
The interesting thing about this set is that it is, under the surface, made up almost entirely of love poems. Take away Whuppins and Shaman and every poem there is about love on some level. You could even make a case for Whuppins and Shaman on the basis of familial love. I just can't get away from the theme, I guess. Oh darn.
Eagle Diner bears particular mention.
I got into town a few hours early so I found the venue and holed up a couple of doors down at a place called Eagle Diner. It's avery unassuming joint run by what I thought were Greeks but have since heard may be Turks. Anyhow, the notable thing about them is their menu. It is only slightly smaller than a Trapper Keeper on the last day of school. The range of cuisines was amazing, and while the prices were higher than you might expect in a diner, the food was good stuff. They had breaded shrimp that had cheese in it. CHEESE baked in with the SHRIMP. Ohmygod, why isn't this joint franchised? To top it off? They're TWENTY-FOUR HOURS, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK. I'd be in there until I had everything on the menu. They didn't take umbrage with me as I sat there and ate and played PSP until right before show time. Thank you, Eagle Diner.
And thank you, Newark. I had a blast.