Your Poetry Menu and American Life in Poetry: Column 513

[Matt Mason]

End January the right way! With a great reading tomorrow at Mr. Toad in Omaha, Buddy Wakefield on Friday, a new Lincoln Poetry Slam, a Backwaters Press event, a reading featuring Otis XII... and a lot more... what poetry wealth!

• 1/19, 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)

• 1/20, Tu-- 7pm, Imaginary Gardens Reading at Mr. Toad (1002 Howard St, Omaha) featuring poets Sarah McKinstry-Brown and Miles Waggener. This monthly series by Michael Skau features talented local poets.

• 1/20, Tu-- 7pm, the Lincoln Poet Tree Slam at Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso (1624 South St, Lincoln). (3rd Tuesday)

• 1/21, 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)

• 1/23, F-- 7pm, Apollon and the Nebraska Writers Collective present Buddy Wakefield at the Apollon (1801 Vinston St, Omaha). Buddy is a three-time world champion spoken word artist featured on NPR, the BBC, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, ABC Radio National and most recently signed to Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records. $7.

• 1/25, 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)

• 1/26, 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)

• 1/28, W-- 7pm, The Backwaters Press Presents Joy Castro, Zedeka Poindexter, Rodger Gerberding at the UNO Community Engagement Center (6001 Dodge Street, UNO Campus). Reading is free and open to the public. See facebook event for more information: www.facebook.com/events/711443072284124.

• 1/28, 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)

• 1/29, Th-- 7pm, Poetry Slam in Vermillion, SD at Raziel's (13 West Main St, Vermillion SD). $5 at the door. Sponsored by the Vermillion Literary Project. For more information, see sites.usd.edu/projlit/poetry-slams (last Thursday of the month)

• 1/31, Sa-- 7-8:30pm, Poetry Reading at the OM Center (1216 Howard, Omaha). Reading by Otis XII, Michelle Troxclair, Gina Keplinger, Matt Mason, and more benefiting the Nebraska Writers Collective. $5.

• 2/1, 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).

• 2/1, 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)

• 2/2, M-- 7pm, Special event at Open Mic at the Moon, at Crescent Moon Coffee (140 N 8th St #10 Lower Level, Lincoln): Queer Poetry Slam featuring UNL's Stacey Waite, Poets from Louder than a Bomb: Great Plains, among many other special slam poetry guests (See more at the night's Facebook page. Fundraiser Raffle will also take place! For more information, contact cresce...@inebraska.com and check www.crescentmooncoffee.com/. (every Monday)

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American Life in Poetry: Column 513

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Kwame Dawes is the editor of Prairie Schooner and one of my colleagues at the University of Nebraska. Had I never had the privilege of getting to know him I still would have loved the following poem, for its clear and matter-of-fact account of a sudden loss.

Coffee Break

It was Christmastime,

the balloons needed blowing,

and so in the evening

we sat together to blow

balloons and tell jokes,

and the cool air off the hills

made me think of coffee,

so I said, “Coffee would be nice,”

and he said, “Yes, coffee

would be nice,” and smiled

as his thin fingers pulled

the balloons from the plastic bags;

so I went for coffee,

and it takes a few minutes

to make the coffee

and I did not know

if he wanted cow’s milk

or condensed milk,

and when I came out

to ask him, he was gone,

just like that, in the time

it took me to think,

cow’s milk or condensed;

the balloons sat lightly

on his still lap.

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 Kwame Dawes, “Coffee Break,” from Duppy Conqueror: New and Selected Poems, (Copper Canyon Press, 2013). Poem reprinted by permission of Kwame Dawes and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2015 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.

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