Your Poetry Menu and American Life in Poetry: Column 502

[Matt Mason]

November brings some great readings for you these next few weeks, so support local poets and poetry:

11/3, 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)

11/4, Tu-- 7pm, Tuesdays with Writers at The South Mill (4736 Prescott, just west of 48th and Prescott, Lincoln). Featured readers this month are Kara Gall and her writing group. There is an open mic following the feature. For more information, contact Deborah McGinn at dmc...@lps.org. Tuesdays With Writers will once again retire for the chilling months of Jan, Feb, and March. In April we will come out of hibernation with the Lincoln High School Slam Poetry Team. (1st Tuesday of the month)

11/5 W-- 7:30pm, the Writer's Workshop Reading Series at UNO features fiction writer and essayist Charles D'Ambrosio in the Art Gallery (Weber Fine Arts Building, UNO campus). Free and open to the public, sponsored by the College of Communication, Fine Arts, and Media.

11/5, 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)

11/5, 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)

11/7-8, times TBA: The Great Plains Poetry Pile-Up! Poets from around the country come to town for this event, competing in a poetry slam at the OM Center (1216 Howard, Omaha). Go to The Event Facebook Page for more information.

11/8, 1:30-3:30pm, poetry writing Workshop with Omaha Public Library and the Nebraska Writers Collective at the Charles B. Washington Branch Library (2868 Ames Ave, Omaha). Today's workshop is led by nationally-known touring poet Idris Goodwin. Bring your creativity and your interest in slam poetry! Join Nebraska Writers Collective's Louder Than a Bomb coaches and visiting artists to learn from the experts.

11/8, 3:30-6:30pm, A Celebration of Nebraska Books at the Nebraska Library Commussion (1200 N St, Lincoln). Join us to celebrate the Nebraska Book Award Winners, the 2015 One Book One Nebraska Announcement, presentation of the 2014 Jane Geske Award, reception, book signing, and more! See more information at centerforthebook.nebraska.gov.

11/8, Sa-- 7pm, Tearee Caswell is looking for poets to read at her closing Day of the Dead Celebration at Drips (just east of the Harvester Apts) in Council Bluffs. More info is at Facebook.com. Contact prairiesongs (at) Hotmail (dot) com to sign up.

11/8, Sa-- 7:30pm, taking over the OM Center Poetry Slam tonight is the Finals of the Great Plains Poetry Pile-up at the OM Center (1216 Howard, Omaha). Tonight features touring poet and playwright Idris Goodwin. Hosted by Zedeka Poindexter. $7 suggested donation. Call 402/345-5078 or go to The Event Facebook Page for more information. (2nd Saturday of every month)

11/9, 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)

11/10, 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)

11/12, 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)

11/14, F-- 7pm, Open Mic Poetry Night at A to Z Books (507 North Jeffers, 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).

11/16, 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)

11/17, 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)

11/18, Tu-- 7pm, Imaginary Gardens poetry reading at Mr. Toad's (1002 Howard St, Omaha) with Todd Robinson and Barbara Schmitz and one other poet TBA. Organized by Michael Skau.

--------------------------

American Life in Poetry: Column 502

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Many poets have attempted to describe the way in which flocks of birds fly, as if they were steered by a single consciousness. In the following poem, David Allan Evans gives us a new metaphor for the way light shows through the flying birds. Evans is Poet Laureate of South Dakota.

Sixty Years Later I Notice, Inside A Flock Of Blackbirds,

the Venetian blinds

I dusted off

for my mother on

Saturday mornings,

closing, opening them

with the pull cord a few

times just to watch the outside

universe keep blinking,

as the flock suddenly

rises from November stubble,

hovers a few seconds,

closing, opening,

blinking, before it tilts,

then vanishes over a hill.

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 David Allan Evans from his most recent book of poems, the Carnival, the Life, Settlement House, 2013. Poem reprinted by permission of David Allan Evans 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.

--

          Executive Director, Nebraska Writers Collective: newriters.org
                            My homepage: Matt.MidVerse.com
                    Find Nebraska poetry info at: PoetryMenu.com