Poets Tribute to Jay Wenk, June 25

Jay Wenk was a poet, writer, peace activist, an engaged community member. He was a World War II veteran & an active member of Veterans For Peace, & the current Poet Laureate of Veterans For Peace; he said he went to Germany to fight fascism & “I’m still fighting fascism here at home.” I may have first encountered Jay at the February 2003 massive demonstration against the impending invasion of Iraq, when I first met Dayl Wise. My earliest photo of Jay is from an October 2006 reading at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock. In 2017 I was pleased to pair him up with a more recent veteran, Karen Skolfield, as readers at Poets in the Park. It was always an honor to be in his presence. He died at the end of May at the age of 91.

Jay Wenk at the Colony Cafe, September 17, 2007

This poetic tribute was organized & hosted by Dayl Wise & Pamela Twining & there was long line of veterans & poets tonight to pay tribute; Dayl reported later there were 25 readers.

Leslie Gerber read the obituary that Jay had written for himself, then his own poem “Memorial Day” (Jay had organized in the past his own Memorial Day remembrance when the Town of Woodstock would not let the Veterans For Peace march in the parade).
Tarak Kauf, is the Managing Editor of Peace In Our Times, a quarterly newspaper put out by Veterans For Peace; he read a poem for Jay written by Doug Rawlings, who is a founding member of Veterans For Peace, & former Poet Laureate of VFP; then “A Poem for Jay Wenk a Dragonfly” written by Jill Anderson who is working on a film title 48 Stars, in which Jay is interviewed; the trailer, including Jay's voice & a snippet from his interview, is available at the 48 Stars Facebook page.
Barry Samuels, a former owner of the Golden Notebook recalled his conversations with Jay at the bookstore.
I read Jay’s poem “Cost of War” from the anthology Poems for Peace Poems for Justice (Post Traumatic Press, 2015), & my own tribute poem to my Elders (Jay among them) “A.J. Muste.”
Chris Collins, a member of the Town Board, read “To Jay.”
Larry Winters, another VFP writer, read a poem for Jay.
Everett Cox, a member of the Warrior Writers collective read “Open Letter to the Commander in Chief on Veterans Day.”
Donald Lev read “Remembering Jay Wenk.”
Fred Nagler, also with Veterans For Peace, read a tribute & remembrances of Jay.
Dave Kime, another veteran, read, or rather proclaimed, the anti-war poems “America is a War Machine” & “Feast.”
Lenny Brown read a remembrance poem he had just written.
Pamela Twining’s poem was titled “Hit & Run.” Then she took over as the host from Dayl.
Judith Kerman read from her chair in the audience a couple of her poetic “definitions” for the nouns “Home” & “Resistance.”
Andy Clausen read “Soldiers of Christ” & “Start the Sun” from his book.
Susan Hoover read a poem that she said Jay loved, “First Morning After Last Night.”
Lisa Mullenneaux read 2 poems “2 Hot 2 Hot” & “Deep Inside.”
Sue Willens read her ironic plea “Let There Be Democracy.”
Ron Whiteurs (who is also a veteran) read “Testament 2018 (to Jay Wenk)”, then a performance piece with recorded music inspired by visual artists, "Dawn in D Major Silent Poem #2."
Phillip Levine read a piece titled “Rivers & Gardens.”
Teresa Costa’s poem was “Jay’s Wounded Knee.”

At this point I had to leave for the drive back to Albany, regrettably missing the last few readers. It was a fitting tribute to a man, a poet, who has left his mark on his Town of Woodstock & the people there & elsewhere.

Jay’s writings are scattered in a myriad of publication, some already mentioned. Post Traumatic Press published in 2017 a collection of Jay’s poems Thank You For Your Service. His World War II memoir Study War No More: A Jewish Kid from Brooklyn Fights the Nazis was published in 2010, with a new edition to be released in the Winter of 2018. I think it would be fair to say that if you want to thank Jay for his service, then work for peace.