June 24 Guest at Bolton Hall - G. Murray Thomas

G. Murray Thomas is the Featured Poet at the Open Reading of the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga. The reading will be held on Sunday, June 24, 2012 at 4:30 p.m., at Bolton Hall Museum, 10110 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, CA 91042.

G. Murray Thomas has been active in the SoCal poetry scene for over 20 years. He has performed throughout the L.A. area and beyond. He was the editor and publisher of Next... Magazine, a poetry calendar/newsmagazine for Southern California. Next... Magazine was published monthly between 1994 and 1998. News Clips & Ego Trips, a collection of articles from Next..., was just published by Write Bloody Press.

Thomas currently edits a monthly listing of poetry events for Poetix.net, the source for information about SoCal poetry. He is also the Reviews Editor for Poetix. His most recent book of poetry is My Kidney Just Arrived, published by Tebot Bach in 2011. His previous books are Cows on the Freeway and Paper Shredders, an anthology of surf writing. Thomas has also published five chapbooks, and has been widely published in various literary magazines.

More information about Thomas can be found at http://gmurraythomas.com/His new book of poetry is now available to order from http://www.tebotbach.org/. For all the info on SoCal Poetry, go to Poetix.net.

“YOUR KIDNEY JUST ARRIVED AT LAX”

The doctor told me as I lay in pre-op prep.
I envisioned a special chartered flight,
an entire airplane filled with organs.

Hearts with little heart shaped carry-ons.
They always watch the inflight movie
and cry all the way through.

Livers splurging on one last drink;
they don’t think they’ll be allowed
where they’re going.

The lungs eye the spot
where the oxygen masks drop.

Corneas stare out at the passing countryside;
they always get a window seat.

The spleens are always complaining
     about security
     about the length of the flight
     about the lack of leg room
     (although they have no legs).

The gall bladder always gets in line
before his row is called.

And there’s my kidney,
no doubt reading a book to pass the time
something classic: As I Lay Dying,
     or Great Expectations,
     or The Stranger.

All of them wondering
about the journey ahead,
about their new home,
about their new life.

(Published in My Kidney Just Arrived, by G. Murray Thomas, Tebot Bach 2011)