Readings, readings and more readings

Posted by Unknown | Posted in , , , , , , , , , , | Posted on Monday, March 14, 2011

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On Sunday, when most folks were home nursing terrible parade day hangovers and cursing themselves for downing that last (read: last five to ten) shot, I made my way to the Vintage Theater once more to join in the Mulberry Poets & Writers Association open reading.

Considering everything that the reading had to compete with (the jump-ahead in time, alcoholic comas and the actual time of the event) it was a good turnout with some great writers. Not once did I feel the need to shove my pens through my eardrums to drown out beaten, dead horses and boredom. I met some great people afterwards as well. Some of them even enjoyed the garble which tumbled from my mouth while behind the mic. Though I'd rather not stand behind one again without the comfort of a drink or two.

This Friday, at the Arts Seen Gallery, I'll be attending the first of a new series of readings held during Third Fridays in Wilkes-Barre. The reading starts at 6 p.m. and will be held every third Friday of the month. Arts Seen Gallery is located at 21 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA.

There are other readings which are being planned, and I will announce them here in the future.

To leave you with a little something extra, I was introduced to Buddy Wakefield's work through one of the poets who read on Sunday. After hearing "Horsehead", I was instantly hooked. Since I haven't read him on paper, I'm not sure how some of his work would hold up, but the man can certainly perform his work well. Buddy is published by Write Bloody Publishing. Here's a piece by Buddy titled "The Information Man".


Pennies and steel snakes

Posted by Unknown | Posted in , , , , , , , , , | Posted on Wednesday, March 09, 2011

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Photo by d.r. wilsey jr.
















Train tracks meander alongside the Susquehanna river just over the bank from my house. From Spring until Fall, the whistle of the steel behemoth can be heard bouncing through the river valley like a rubber ghost. As a child, its haunting tune would pull me running through my yard and across the street to stare down over the hill, catching a glimpse of boxcar after boxcar trailing the rumbling engine. Winding like a trudging, steel snake down the track. 

If my friends and I were lucky, we'd hear the whistle early enough to give us time to grab a fistful of pennies and run down to the tracks. I'd place a few along the rail like a line of copper ants. Sometimes I'd place a couple with edges overlapped in hopes that the engine would crush them together as if they were made of clay. Someone told me once that "pennying" the tracks could derail a train. I never did believe them.

Today I saw that engine rolling down the tracks along route 92 as I drove home from work. It still fills me with boyhood excitement. I want to race ahead in my truck, grab the change from my cup-holder and sprint down to the rails to lay a line of coins. Feel the earth shake and strain beneath the weight of the steel snake crawling over its shoulders. Watch my coins sprinkle off the tracks like glitter.



- I'd like to take a moment to thank Ada Limón herself for posting a link back to my review of her book Sharks in the Rivers on her blog. She's a great poet and writer that more people should check out. 

March First Friday in Scranton and things I've written

Posted by Unknown | Posted in , , , , , , , , , | Posted on Thursday, March 03, 2011

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Tomorrow night, at the Vintage Theater in Scranton, Ali Pica and Lynette Thick's "Recycled Communication" Art Exhibit will be taking place with Ali Pica reading some of her poetic works. The exhibit opens at 6 p.m. and Ali will be reading around 7:30. At 8, the mic opens for poetry, music or the mad ramblings of a drunken, homeless bum. Whichever comes first. However, barring any bum takeovers, I will be reading some of my work during the open mic. Brian Fanelli, who I've mentioned on this blog and have had the pleasure of reading with before, may also be joining the open mic portion. Check out Brian's chapbook "Frontman".

Whatever the outcome, it promises to be another good First Friday in Scranton.

A thank you

Posted by Unknown | Posted in , , , , | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2011

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Taking a moment to thank Milkweed Editions for posting a link to my review of Ada Limón's "Sharks in the Rivers" on their Twitter. I was wondering why my traffic was spiking and I found out. So, thanks again! Hope all the new visitors come back and check this small hole-in-the-wall blog out every now and then.

Never fear

Posted by Unknown | Posted in , , , , , , | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2011

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This blog has not been forsaken. I've been trying to work through this writer's block (I still hate that term) that I've been having lately. That, and I've been pulled in every direction possible and bludgeoned by another arctic blast of cold and snow. It's about time the warm air move in.

In other news, I finally dragged my ass to the eye doctor after a seven (possibly eight) year hiatus of eye exams. Not much has changed besides the fact that I'm worse off by a fraction in my one eye. I can't remember which. All I know is that I've got new glasses and, with them, I have slightly better than 20/20 vision. Three cheers for not being blind.

Tonight, I celebrated a very dear friend's birthday while reminiscing over a delicious beer named "Old Leghumper". Who could resist trying a beer with that name? Also, I got to see the band Girls Galore perform tonight for the first time. My dear friend's significant other is in the band. More on them coming in a future post. Good tunes, though. I'm surprised I didn't spend money on records while in the venue, though. You couldn't capture my wallet this time, Embassy Records.

First Friday in March I'll be reading at the Vintage Theater. More on that as well, later.

Cheers for now.

Just for the hell of it.

Ada Limón's "Sharks in the Rivers"

Posted by Unknown | Posted in , , , , , , , | Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2011

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Recently, I stumbled across the work of Ada Limón online. After reading her poem "Sharks in the Rivers", her book of poetry under the same title was on its way to my mailbox. It has proved itself to be the best find this year thus far and it's going to be a hard one to top.

Poem after poem is soaked with imagery and sounds of flora and fauna, rolling hills and riverbanks. Even her pieces constructed in the realm of a bustling, rushing city return to the comfort and at-home peace of California countrysides. Streets turn to rivers and her entire being takes flight, refusing to let the steel and concrete of a metropolis dam up that which flows so freely from her. She is a native soul in a contemporary world.

Her style of writing is refreshing. In tune with the natural world, but able to draw parallels between nature and a world seemingly detached from it. The joy of sex and womanhood is swallowing a live bird. Worries can be carried away by grains of sand on the shoulders of ants, unless your burdens are too heavy to bear. Her work is a trickling, peaceful spring at points and a rushing torrent of feeling and life running down pavement at others. 

At no point do her words seemed forced or pretentious (like so many contemporaries today). They grow from the pages as naturally as prairie grass and take root in the readers mind. Ada's world immerses you and makes you feel both her joys and sorrows, doubts and hopes. You become attached, like she's grabbed your hand and said, "Come, I'll show you," before stepping out the door and into her world. It's honest and true writing found here.

This is the first collection of Ada's poems I've had the pleasure of reading and is her third book so far, being preceded by Lucky Wreck and This Big Fake World. Currently, she is working on a novel, which I'm sure I'll be waiting in anticipation for after reading the rest of her published work.


Sharks in the Rivers is available from Milkweed Editions. Her other poetry collections, This Big Fake World and Lucky Wreck, can be found on Amazon. She also maintains a personal blog and her official website can be found at AdaLimon.com. 

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