Your Poetry Menu and American Life in Poetry: Column 544

[Matt Mason]

The school year is upon us and a lot out there to catch! Big names coming through soon include two of my favorites in Erin Belieu and Mike McGee:

• 8/24, 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)

• 8/26, 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)

• 8/28, F-- 7pm, Open Mic Poetry Night at Espresso Shoppe (419 North Dewey St, North Platte). 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 and 4th Friday).

• 8/31, 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)

• 9/1, Tu-- 7pm, Tuesdays with Writers at The South Mill (4736 Prescott, just west of 48th and Prescott, Lincoln). Featured readers TBA. There is an open mic following the feature. For more information, contact Deborah McGinn at dmc...@lps.org (1st Tuesday of the month)

• 9/2, 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)

• 9/5, Sa-- 1-3pm, Omaha Writers Group at Petshop Gallery (2725 N 62nd St, Omaha). A weekly writing workshop open to the public. Bring your work and bring your friends. Every week, Gen provides coffee, snacks, and writing exercises. (every Saturday)

• 9/7, 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)

• 9/9, W-- 7:30pm, the Writer's Workshop Reading Series at UNO presents poet Erin Belieu in the UNO Art Gallery (Weber Fine Arts Building, Omaha). This event is free and open to the public, for more information contact 402/554-2406.

• 9/9, 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)

• 9/11, F-- 7pm, Open Mic Poetry Night at Espresso Shoppe (419 North Dewey St, North Platte). 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 and 4th Friday).

• 9/12, Sa-- 1-3pm, Omaha Writers Group at Petshop Gallery (2725 N 62nd St, Omaha). A weekly writing workshop open to the public. Bring your work and bring your friends. Every week, Gen provides coffee, snacks, and writing exercises. (every Saturday)

• 9/12, 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)

• 9/14, 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)

• 9/15, Tu-- 7pm, the Lincoln Poet Tree Slam at Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso (1624 South St, Lincoln). (3rd Tuesday)

• 9/15, Tu-- 7pm, internationally-known San Jose poet Mike McGee performs at the Gothenberg Public Library (1104 Lake Ave, Gothenburg). McGee is one of the best-known performing poets in the world and brings his work to Gothenberg via the nonprofit Nebraska Writers Collective. Opening for McGee is Omaha poet Matt Mason.

• 9/16, 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)

• 9/17, Th-- 7-11pm, Verbal Gumbo with Felicia Webster and Michelle Troxclair at House of Loom (1012 S. 10th St., Omaha). Tonight features international touring poet Mike McGee! $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)

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American Life in Poetry: Column 544

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Twenty years ago my wife and I had visitors from New York, and their car broke down on a country road about a mile from our home. One of them panicked because there were no phone booths from which to call for help. Nebraska is a place where there can be a lot of room between one land-line and the next. Carol V. Davis of California did a residency at Homestead National Monument, and this is one of the poems that came out of it.

Animal Time

                                I do better in animal time,
a creeping dawn, slow ticking toward dusk.
In the middle of the day on the Nebraska prairie,
I’m unnerved by subdued sounds, as if listening
through water, even the high-pitched drone of the
cicadas faint; the blackbirds half-heartedly singing.
As newlyweds, my parents drove cross country to
Death Valley, last leg of their escape from New York,
the thick soups of their immigrant mothers, generations
of superstitions that squeezed them from all sides.
They camped under stars that meant no harm.
It was the silence that alerted them to danger.
They climbed back into their tiny new car, locked
its doors and blinked their eyes until daylight.

We do not accept unsolicited submissions. 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 Carol V. Davis, “Animal Time,” from Harpur Palate, (Vol. 13, No. 1, summer/fall 2013). Poem reprinted by permission of Carol V. Davis 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.

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          Executive Director, Nebraska Writers Collective: newriters.org
                            My homepage: Matt.MidVerse.com
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