I paid my first visit last week to a nice little venue called The Station in nearby Merchantville, NJ. It's a convereted train station which now houses a coffee shop and arts center. Matt and Nicole Eiland manage the arts end of it, and I went one evening to an open mic poetry reading hosted by Matt. The bad news was that I was one of two participants, not counting the host. The good news was that I had a really good time. Matt is a good poet but an even better singer-songwriter - I told him he reminds me a bit of Amos Lee, a local artist who's made it big in the adult-alternative music scene. The other person there said she was just listening, and has written poetry but wasn't ready to share it publicly yet, but Matt and I convinced her that if there was ever a time to "come out" with her poetry, it would be for an audience of two, so she read a poem, and it was good. I got to read several poems from my new chapbook and sold a copy of it too. And I will be speaking to Nicole this week about possibly starting a poetry workshop there.
As I said before, you can view my Tiferet poems on their web page, but I have also been writing poems for Poetic Asides. Sometimes I submit the same poem to both if the writing prompts blend well enough together. Other days I write two separate poems, so the ones I'm sharing on the blog were exclusively for Poetic Asides. There are three new ones to share this time:
The Five-Year-Old - A Limerick
Little Donnie would holler and shout,
On not getting his way, he would pout.
With his blocks, built a wall,
then he said, “Screw you all!”
Now he sits in a chair for time-out.
On not getting his way, he would pout.
With his blocks, built a wall,
then he said, “Screw you all!”
Now he sits in a chair for time-out.
Haiku
after they turn off
all the landscaping machines
woodpecker drumming
Diner Date
First
date with her, you'd think he'd realize
he
did not make the best of first impressions:
"Hey,
are you gonna eat all of those fries?"
His
favorite diner, famed for apple pies
and
chicken waffles, decor out of fashion -
first
date with her, he might not realize
that
she likes restaurants with suits and ties
required,
where they don't blurt indiscretions
like,
"Are you gonna eat all of those fries?"
Yet
she enjoys it all, to her surprise -
the
greasy food and chrome she doesn't question.
While
dating him, she starts to realize
he's
nice, so down-to-earth compared to guys
she's
known, and then she makes this self-confession:
she
doesn't mind if he eats all her fries.
Fast-forward
fifteen years, and we surmise
it's
still their favorite place, their love's not lessened.
First-born's
with them, we come to realize:
"Hey,
dad, you gonna eat all of those fries?"
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