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:

The Willows’ Lament (+ Hessler Poetry Jam Reflections)

As planned, I participated in the “Hessler Poetry Jam” at the Barking Spider this past Saturday, performing “Fuse & Prune” and 3 brand-new pieces, the first of which appears below! My readings of all four poems were recorded in video format by my best female friend Laura, who accompanied me to the event for as long as she could before having to leave for work. I’ll be uploading the video to my YouTube channel as soon as I am technologically able! While I can’t honestly say that I enjoyed every act in the show, there were more than enough other performers whose creativity and humor I found enjoyable to justify my attendance, even if I had not performed myself! Enough of my mixed reviews, now, though; I shall now introduce a new poem!

The following is the 2nd poem I’ve written in my ongoing reflection on the condition of the natural world:

See You At The Fair! (+ Hessler Competition Results)

No, I didn’t win anything, but I’m proud of my performance of my senryū, “Error” (Previously known as “Cyberspace Senryū”). Video coming soon on my YouTube channel!

That said, I’m looking forward to spending some time at the Hessler Street Fair this weekend. As I’ve said before, I’m particularly excited to participate in Ray McNiece‘s “Hessler Poetry Jam” at the Barking Spider Tavern! The event is scheduled to run from 2:00 to 5:00 PM on Saturday. If, like last year, I get a choice of position in the performance order, I’m planning to sign up for a slot toward the beginning of the show. Stop by and say “Hi!”

Oh, and if you’re at the Fair on Sunday at 2 pm, be sure to congratulate the poetry contest winners and listen to them perform their winning pieces! (You can also hear this reading on WRUW-FM 91.1 Cleveland at that time!)

The winners were:

1. Jeffrey Bowen: “for the godfather daniel thompson (1935-2004)”
2. Lori Ann Kusterbeck: “Simple Ways”
3. Sean Thomas Dougherty: “Surgery”

• Honorable Mention: Christine Howey: “The Killer Turkey of Malabar Farm”

Country Lullaby

This poem is a reflection on my childhood routine of falling asleep each night while listening to the local country music radio station, Cleveland’s WGAR. Looking back on these memories revives feelings within me of the comfort and security I felt on those nights, tucked snugly into bed and listening for my favorite tunes to come on.