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12/5, F-- 4-5:30pm, the No Name Reading Series,
at Zen's Lounge (122 N. 11th Street, Lincoln). The No Name Reading
Series is free and open to the public and is run by the graduate
students in the English department of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln. Tonight's reading features Erin M. Bertram and Nick
White. For more information, email Jason Hertz or Rebecca Macijeski. (every other Friday)
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12/7, Su-- 7-9pm, TAPESTRIES at the Apollon (1801 Vinton St, Omaha). A
showcase featuring 4 poets, spoken word artists, storytellers and
rappers performing conscious edutaining original sets. (1st Sunday).
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12/7, Su-- 9pm-1:30am, it's Shoot Your Mouth Off at The Shark Club (2808
S 72nd St, Omaha). Online sign ups on our FB 24/7 for priority stage
time: facebook.com/Shootyourmouthoff. Check myspace.com/shootyourmouthoff
for interviews with features and more information. Mandy Morgan and
Jim Morrison will be your hosts as open mic poetry and comedy, featured
readers from Omaha's slam scene and free drinks prizes await you. The
best free show in Omaha! (every Sunday)
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12/8, M-- 7pm, Open Mic at the Moon, at Crescent Moon Coffee (140 N 8th
St #10 Lower Level, Lincoln). For more information, contact cresce...@inebraska.com and check www.crescentmooncoffee.com/. (every Monday)
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12/10, W-- 8pm-12am, Acoustic Open Mic for musicians and poets at
Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso (1624 South St, Lincoln). Hosted by
Spencer. For more information call 402-477-2007. (every Wednesday)
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12/12, F-- 7pm, Open Mic Poetry Night at A to Z Books (115 West 4th St,
North Platte) -- ultra large bookstore. It's a fun, funny, widely varied
group. Poems can be short or long, funny or touching, rhymed or free
verse. Musicians too. George Lauby of The North Platte Bulletin emcees
and makes you feel comfortable. (2nd Friday, 4th Saturday).
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12/13, Sa-- 7:30pm, the OM Center
Poetry Slam and open mic (1216 Howard, Omaha). It's the
longest-running slam in Omaha, often featuring some of the best
performance poets in the nation. Open mic starts at 7:30 followed by
the slam; sign up BEFORE 7:30 as signup is limited. Hosted by Zedeka
Poindexter. $7 suggested donation. Call 402/345-5078 or go to OmahaSlam.com for more information. (2nd Saturday of every month)
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12/14, Su-- 9pm-1:30am, it's Shoot Your Mouth Off at The Shark Club
(2808 S 72nd St, Omaha). Online sign ups on our FB 24/7 for priority
stage time: facebook.com/Shootyourmouthoff. Check myspace.com/shootyourmouthoff
for interviews with features and more information. Mandy Morgan and
Jim Morrison will be your hosts as open mic poetry and comedy, featured
readers from Omaha's slam scene and free drinks prizes await you. The
best free show in Omaha! (every Sunday)
-
12/15, M-- 7pm, Open Mic at the Moon, at Crescent Moon Coffee (140 N 8th
St #10 Lower Level, Lincoln). For more information, contact cresce...@inebraska.com and check www.crescentmooncoffee.com/. (every Monday)
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12/16, Tu-- 7pm, Imaginary Gardens poetry reading at Mr. Toad's (1002 Howard St, Omaha) with Matt Mason and Natasha Kessler-Rains. Organized by Michael Skau.
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12/17, W-- 8pm, Travis Davis invites you to "Poet Show It" at 1122 D St.
(Lincoln). Local writers come and read. Local people come and drink.
Coffee, Booze, Poetry, Fiction. Discovery. Discovery. Discovery. Go
here for the FaceBook link: Facebook.com. (1st and 3rd Wednesday)
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12/17, W-- 8pm-12am, Acoustic Open Mic for musicians and poets at
Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso (1624 South St, Lincoln). Hosted by
Spencer. For more information call 402-477-2007. (every Wednesday)
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12/18, Th-- 7-11pm, Verbal Gumbo with Felicia Webster and Michelle
Troxclair at House of Loom (1012 S. 10th St., Omaha). $5, all ages until
9pm, 21+ after. Crabby about the political climate? Want some okra
change? Just want to discuss your relationshrimps--or the andouille
sausage in your life? Well, Verbal Gumbo is here with some hot, spicey
flava with a side o' rice and rhythm. This is the Spoken Word event that
promotes our rich diversity of culture and style. Soul session
immediately following by DJ Real. (3rd Thursday)
American Life in Poetry: Column 506
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE
I flunked college physics, and anything smaller than a BB is too small
for me to understand. But here’s James Crews, whose home is in St.
Louis, “relatively” at ease with the smallest things we’ve been told are
all around and in us.
God Particles
I could almost hear their soft collisions
on the cold air today, but when I came in,
shed my layers and stood alone by the fire,
I felt them float toward me like spores
flung far from their source, having crossed
miles of oceans and fields unknown to most
just to keep my body fixed to its place
on the earth. Call them God if you must,
these messengers that bring hard evidence
of what I once was and where I have been—
filling me with bits of stardust, whaleskin,
goosedown from the pillow where Einstein
once slept, tucked in his cottage in New Jersey,
dreaming of things I know I’ll never see.
American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (
www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of
Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Poem copyright ©2013 by James Crews, whose most recent book of poems is
The Book of What Stays, University of Nebraska Press, 2011. Poem reprinted from
Ruminate Magazine,
Issue 29, Autumn 2013, by permission of James Crews and the publisher.
Introduction copyright © 2014 by The Poetry Foundation. The
introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate
Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do
not accept unsolicited manuscripts.