As I said there is no black door (although, hopefully, there is a back door), at the Skyline bar on, well, the bar's flyers say "90 N. Pearl St." but there is no entrance on North Pearl, the door (not black) is on Sheridan Ave.
The host, R.M. Engelhardt, read some poems by John Berryman, not the usual 19th Century romantic stuff, so that was a decent start. He was backed up by "Love is the Devil" (Kim 13 & W. Das Gift). Later during the open mic he read with the band, included a Dungeons & Dragons poem, Arcadia. There was a spate of poets a few years back writing dragon & damsels poems but they have seemed to move on. I think we should be thankful.
A couple new poets out this night: Andrew Hough with a political rant bashing American media (an easy enough target) & Lisa Crenshaw with personal poems of introduction & change.
Shaun Baxter read Bukowski's "Poetry Reading" & some of his own limericks. Margot Lynch, did a rambling rant, back from Florida (looking like she just came back from Florida).
This was the first featured reading for Karen Gazzardi James, whom I've seen read at the former open mic at the Moon & River Cafe. Her poems are mostly personsal statements in clunky meters & rhymes, & made me wonder (never got a chance to ask her) who are the poets she reads? Her work showed no connection to anything written in about the last 100 years. She seems to mostly publish her poems on MySpace ("Ren"). She needs to get to the public library & start pulling poets off the shelves & to get out to more open mics & hear what other people are writing. We all have to begin somewhere. Her poem "A Lost Orgasm" got the best response (!); of course most poems about masturbating at work usually do.
In a self-referential mood, I read a list of proposed titles for poems that Dan Nester had sent out when the Behind the Egg reading was cancelled for the Feb. blizzard. I made a few alterations & Shaun seemed to like "Puppies & Flowers", so watch for it.
I think Jason Dalaba gets his reading-voice accent out of a Twinnings Tea sample pack; "Sex & Math" (best title of the night) & "Wonder Woman" were fun.
Chris Brabham read a new one about the angel of death unplugged & there was Finnegan again with a string of stuff going over his alloted time/poem limit, memorably the unsettling "A Butterfly is Dying".
Second Tuesday of each month, starts about 8:00; in the meanwhile, as Uncle Wiggly used to say, I think I'll go check out Margot in a bathing suit on MySpace.
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6 comments:
Where's the poem? I wanna see it!
This blog is hilarious. This specific blog about Black Door is very detailed Dan. Great job. gee I hope she doesn't get mad. You are funny about the black door. The dungeons and dragons thing is fucking hilarious. Good for you. Hope to see you at Mimi's Thursday night.
"...bathing suit" and in my many forms.
Actually, if you had paid attention to the piece itself Dan you would have known that it has nothing to do with the terms you cited. It's actually a poem about a relationship.
R.M. Engelhardt, Poet:
THE BLACK DOOR
Here it is again so you can get a better grasp
A R C A N I A
Your spells
& weapons
Cannot
Defeat me
Your words
And silences,
Your money
And all your gods,
Are useless
Against me.
For I am
And will
Always be
Your shadow …
Ego scio vos
_________
R.M. Engelhardt 2007
Surely do miss the days when poetry was all about community; encouragement and support. Why has it become such a big thing in recent years to knock, slander, and point out how ones work doesn't meet up to another's standards? (Oh, wait, that would be called "ego".)Reviewing is one thing, nasty criticizing another. Do you really expect the people you are knocking here to actually WANT to attend any more readings after viewing the unkindness you wrote of them here? Or to even pursue further down the poetic path? So much for "supporting" the scene. Guess all the kindness and caring is reserved for peace activism. Oh, the IRONY!!
To tell the truth I coined the phrase, "Dungeons and Dragons poem". A minor joke. Whatever the quality of poem I believe the author should at least be able to look at his first four lines and be honest that it was not a stretch to have made that comment. It does sort of sound like something from the end of a B fantasy movie. Here's the scene: The evil wizard has just used some artifact to gain unlimited power thus spelling doom for our heroes. He boasts, "YOUR SPELLS & WEAPONS CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" His statement seems true until the main hero destorys the wizard's "achilles heel" (which we learned about in the film's first act)thus causing him to age at an advanced rate and disolve into dust. The hero kisses the girl; the end.
-sb
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