All good poems

At last, the women outnumbered the men at last night's session. Of course, there were only five of us, but I was happy to see Joyce and Philomena, as well as Paul and Mark. Joyce brought a copy of the Pyramid Lake poetry collection that she and Steve had edited. It was spiral bound and included colored photos.

The poem she read was the one included in the book and we all liked it. Good thing. Seeing that it was already published, no one wanted to criticize anyway. It was a tribute to her daughter-in-law and consisted of less than 50 words. Very simple and heartfelt.

Philomena had some fantastic lines in her poem called "How do I want to use words? " The best line for me was:

If I enter an antique store

I won't know what period the furniture

but I will know what chair I want to sit in.

In fact, I suggested that she end the poem there, but everyone else seemed to want to keep the last stanza, which did reinforce her point, but I thought weakened the structure by appearing at the end.

Paul offered one of his solid nostalgia poems about a one-room schoolhouse. It was pretty tight and full of good imagery. None of us actually attended a school where we had to carry wood to the stove, but it did revive some other old school memories.

Obeeduid had quite an usual and imaginative work which was a hit with all of us. The way the poem was laid out on the page was a huge part of its success and the presentation was clipped in an effective way. It is rather hard to describe. It is called "The Art of Giving" and he refused to explain the underlying meaning, leaving it to our vivid imaginations.

The only upcoming news is Mark's appearance at Sunday Four on the 24th. Don't forget to party at the Caslines on January 30.

Thanks from me to all of you who made the trek to Saratoga to hear me at Cafe Lena. Great dinner, great company. Great bread pudding (I wore the whiskey sauce.) Great to see Cathy/Ally Cat.

Food for thought: Instead of our annual April Poetry Brunch, which I have vowed to discontinue, or at least not hold in April, I am wondering if you would like to try a different format at one of the regular April meetings. Perhaps a reading, a performance night, a collaborative poem, obee's harp and Jim's guitar and Tom's sax, food.... ?