Writers Mic, February 9

Poet Jackie Craven our host welcomed us back into this monthly Zoom open mic, which continues to draw a stable of regulars, & new folks dropping in from time to time.

I read an old piece I’d read recently at Caffè Lena about a tee-shirt exchange with another poet (& other things) “The Tee Shirt Poem,” always fun to stumble over a poem you forgot you had written.

Nathan Smith also returned, with a love poem, “Why Shouldn’t I be Happy?” on memories & on holding on to being alive.

David Graham read a new poem that he never read before titled with a word I haven’t heard before, “Swive,” meaning to copulate, that he introduced with a content warning - what the fuck?. 

Alan Catlin read a poem about remembering the last time he had heard Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” while listening to it while undergoing a medical procedure, then the title poem from his book Self-Portrait of the Artist Afraid of Self Portraits, & another of the same ilk, “Self-Portrait as the Devil's Disciple,” from a different book.

Scott Morehouse read us another of his humorous, satirical pieces, this one titled “Thanks for the Memories,” a tale of 2 old folks who take a memory supplement, with some unfortunate results.

Naomi Bindman was here for the first time & read 2 poems I’d heard her read last night at the Zoom open mic from Bennington hosted by Charlie Rossiter, “Tea Ceremony” & “Morning Stillness” filled with brightness & coyotes, & a brand-new poem that she had dictated into her phone, “Phuckage,”  about the annoyance of less yogurt in the smaller package, like your candy bars getting smaller.

Jackie Craven read poems from her new chapbook Cyborg Sister (Headmistress Press) “She Never Answers My Knock” & “No One Speaks of the Empty Ghosts in the Basement Closet” you can order it here. 

Susan Jewell is a persistent, frequent contributor to the Rattle Magazine ekphrastic poetry contest (& has won a few), tonight she shared an image from the December Rattle, & read 2 poems that she wrote about it, “Pro-Choice” imagining a man with a uterus, & “The Rambling Boy with Eyes Like His” about her brother, a Viet Nam war vet & his Vietnamese concubine.

Always a pleasant way to spend an hour or so on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, without having to get dressed up & driving in the dark. You can find the link on the Facebook page Writers Mic.