Geauga Parks’ Nature Writing Honors & Performances

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon in Geauga County at the 25th annual Nature Arts Festival of the Geauga Park District, where I was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Adult Poetry category for “Among The Roots!” Please enjoy my performance and the flattering comments of contest judge Grace Butcher in the video below!

I also feel compelled to recognize Martha Kennedy, age 10, for her prize-winning haiku in the Child Poetry category of the contest. Martha’s vivid sensory descriptions and emotive undertones are stunningly brilliant, and I genuinely hope to hear much more from this poetic prodigy as her creative writing career continues to unfold! Please click here to read her piece!

Here’s the video described above:

The Ghazal Page Presents: “Ghazal Of Humanity” (+ Upcoming Event Reminder!)

Salutations, all!

My first-ever Ghazal poem has been published on The Ghazal Page in their latest issue, #59 ! Read the full poem here! (The poem will be added on this site at a later date.)

I also have a couple of reminders:

• I will be participating in a recognition ceremony on August 7th at the Geauga Park District’s Nature Arts Festival for my honorable mention in their Nature Writing Contest! Please join me there in celebrating nature and creative expression!
• One other thing I’d like to emphasize is that while, as you can see, I am continuing to share my work and announcements on this blog, I more frequently share smaller announcements and links on my Facebook page!

Much to tell, much to do!

There’s lots of news of which to tell! In no particular order, here’s what’s new:

• Full details of the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest have finally been made public! Check out this year’s plans for the Cleveland tradition!
• Writing Knight Press is graciously including me in their lineup of featured poets for the 20th National Poetry Month! The details for the event at which I’ll be reading haven’t yet been finalized, but  UPDATE: Here is the event info! I am scheduled for the evening of April 4th! My 100-word bio is now featured on their website!
• As you may have noticed, I’ve created an official Facebook page for my career as a poet! Please “Like” me to be among the first to hear what I’m up to!
• Last but not least, I’m excited to announce that The Ghazal Page has accepted my submission of “Ghazal of Humanity” for an upcoming publication!

Please watch for updated on these and other topics in the near future!

Big Feature This Week At Mac’s Backs! (+ Room For Improvement?)

I’ve been talking about this in my Facebook posts for a while, but because I’m psyched, here’s one more shameless self-promotion: I’m being featured at this month’s session of Mac’s Backs’ poetry event series! Please be there this Wednesday,  August 12 at 7pm, not only to support me and the other featured readers, but also the venue, which has been a fixture in the Coventry community for years! For those not from the area, here’s the address:

1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44106
216.321.2665

My performance is going to include at least one new piece, and an optional open mic is included as well! I genuinely hope to see you there!

There is another topic I’d like to address in this post: It has come to my attention that despite my occasional reminders that I welcome feedback, I rarely receive any comments on this blog. This is an issue on which I’d like to work, and in contemplating it, I’ve formed the broader goal of improving the blog in general.

My questions for you are these:

• What can I to encourage more interaction between my readers & myself?
  and
• What other steps would you like to see me take to improve this blog?

Evergrow (+ Monthly Co-Feature at Mac’s Backs!)

Good morning! I was going to share a depressing new poem which I recently wrote & revised, but since I’ve had a number of good days lately myself, I changed my mind and composed a more hopeful verse to display in its place. I hope that this poem adds some hope and positivity to your quest for your deepest desire in life:

In other news, I have an invitation for my local readers which I hope you’ll be pleased to accept: I am one of this month’s featured poets at Mac’s Backs on Coventry! I’ll be sharing the stage with 2 other readers on Wednesday, August 12th at 7pm (Click HERE for full info!) As usual, there will be an open reading following the features, so please consider bringing a piece or two of your own! I’m very excited to be given this honor, and I would be thrilled to see a good turnout, so please jot this down in your calendars!

If you won’t be able to make it, or you just want even more poetry and entertainment in your life (I wouldn’t blame you!), keep in mind that you can often find me & numerous other talented individuals at various other Cleveland-area venues’ open mic events, including:

• Sundays @ 2:30 at The Stone Oven on Lee Road <(TODAY!)
• 1st & 4th Tuesdays @ 8:00 pm at the Barking Spider Tavern
• Mondays @ 8:00 pm at Phoenix Coffee on Coventry
• and of course 1st & 3rd Thursdays at the Coffee Phix Cafe in South Euclid

An Especially Memorable Evening At The Coffee Phix

I wasn’t planning on writing another blog post about the Coffee Phix Cafe’s Open Mic series so soon, but tonight felt…special. Everyone with whom I shared the stage was talented, but what I found particularly moving was that all were clearly passionate about their respective arts. I truly & thoroughly enjoyed the evening, and so I’d like to thank each of you here by name for your contributions (in order of your first performances tonight):

1. Annette
2. Benny
3. Donald
4. Sophie
5. Marty
6. Nicole
7. John
8. Ryan

Please keep in touch and continue doing the great things you do! (And please feel free let me know if you’d like any details about yourself added to or removed from this post.)

Helio-Judgment (+ Hessler Open Mic Video)

Greetings from dynamic-weathered Cleveland, Ohio! The poem I’m going to share this evening was the first of four poems I recited at the Hessler Poetry Jam this year (more on that below) and is the last of those poems to be posted here on my blog. As I introduced the piece on that occasion: “A little over two years ago, I set off on a journey of intimidating proportions. Since then, I’m proud to say that I’ve lost nearly 130 pounds, and that is the subject of this poem:”

…and, as promised, here’s my video from the 2015 Hessler Poetry Jam:

Psst! Since you’ve read this far, I’ll try and make it worth your time by giving you a few little hints at the content of two new poems that I’m writing: Both are comedic in nature; One was inspired by an old computer graphic, and the other had to be partially restructured after a TV special beat me to one of the jokes!

Tempers of Abuse (+ Coffee Phix Open Mic #2 and beyond!)

This is my third consecutive weekly post to this blog! Go me!

Today, I’d like to share the second Blitz Poem I’ve completed. It’s entitled “Tempers of Abuse” and it was inspired, at least in part, by the issue of bullying. A particularly common but too-often-overlooked form of abuse, I find even the concept of such cruelty to be nauseating, and I wholeheartedly believe the behavior to be unacceptable from any species that dares to call itself “intelligent” in any sense.

As I mentioned in “Dear Old School,” I was bullied many times over the course of my childhood. For this reason and others, it is a concern which I’ve come to hold close to my heart. If you share my anti-bullying passion, please speak out, as I do via social media outlets (such as my Twitter feed) and poetry, in an effort to improve awareness of the issue. Thank you, and enjoy my new poem:

The Blitz poetry format lends itself well to serious subjects, doesn’t it?

In other news, a friend and I will be attending the second open mic event at the reincarnated Coffee Phix Café tomorrow night (6-17-2015). We’ll both be debuting new material as part of our performances, so you don’t want to miss this show! Also, the venue is locally owned & run, and I can personally testify that interesting customers come by often (especially on open mic nights–hint, hint!), so please be kind and support the shop by purchasing a drink and/or snack to enjoy along with the entertainment. Thanks! See you there!

P.S.: Coffee Phix plans to hold these events on the first & third Thursday evenings of each month!

Calamitous Haiku (+ Hessler Contest Video!)

The following haiku looks at a another sociopolitical political issue, violence, using a scientific metaphor:

I hope you found that worthy of contemplation. Now, in contrast, please enjoy this video clip of my comedic performance of “Error” (formerly “Cyberspace Senryū“) in this year’s Hessler Street Fair poetry competition:

Open Mic Tonight at Coffee Phix Café

Hi, everyone! If you’re in the area and available to be entertained, I’d love to see you in the audience tonight when I perform in the “Open Mic at The Phix” at the Coffee Phix Café on Mayfield Road in South Euclid! My lineup of poems depends on the time limit, which I’ll find out when I get there, so be there to be surprised!

The show starts at 7:30 (be there before 7:00 if you’d like to register to perform!) This event is FREE for attendees and participants!

Check back here for new poetry very soon! I already have several pieces ready, so there will be no excuses for further unreasonable delays on my part! Videos of my two recent Hessler readings will also be uploaded, as promised!