We are pleased to announce that California poet Sharon Alexander will feature at the upcoming Monthly Reading Series, at Bolton Hall Museum 10110 Commerce Ave., Tujunga, CA 91042.
Poets are welcome to sign-up for the open reading upon arrival. Light refreshments will be served – a $3.00 donation is appreciated!
SHARON ALEXANDER - BIOGRAPHY
Born and raised in New York, Sharon Alexander now lives in Southern California. She divides her time between the mountains in Idyllwild and in the desert at the foot of the beautiful Santa Rosa Mountains east of Palm Springs.
Finishing Line Press released Sharon’s first collection of poetry, VOODOO TROMBONE, in 2014. Her work has appeared in various journals including Redheaded Stepchild, Slipstream, Pearl, Crate, Tiger’s Eye and Pinyon. In addition, her poetry in included in the following anthologies: Beyond the Lyric Moment; Woman in Metaphor; and The Poetry Box Anthology: Poeming Pigeons.
Sharon’s website can be found at: sharonalexanderpoetry.com
JADE RIVER
Before I became young again, I loaded my pockets with
stones.
My legs tangled in fishing wire, I waded into the Jade
River,
ignored familiar voices that urged me not to go.
There is no persuading the wave
not to break, the widow not to weep.
And so the Jade River had no mercy.
Once, I was a washerwoman. Hands
of rough bark, my back a crooked tree, kneeling
on cold rock, pounding linens to white.
I danced to banjos and guitars, tapping
my feet
on dusty floors. All I hear now is the slap
of sheet on stone.
Once, I was wed in white, led to the marriage chamber,
left in darkness alone.
When the morning sun lit our bed,
my husband was gone.
And later the red sheet hung in plain
sight.
And later I went down to the Jade River
to scrub away my shame.
I return this last time to my place beside the river, hold
many lives
in my hands. At the widest point where the current runs
swift,
I release all I was to white water, empty my pockets of
stones.
On mornings like this, the river shines
with a strange
green light as though all the stones
beneath the water
were aglow.
BLOOD SEASON
my body
a ticking wire
anchored to the belly
of the world
all the circuits sing
all the blood tides
rip
and every pulse
an hour gone
every breath
a year in flight
my hair was dark and
long
I walked with lovers
in sin and grace
my voice a river
carving time
and for a minute
I believed
the star-strewn sky
blinked at me
and for an hour
I believed the blood
season
was eternity
my body a torch
a flaming arrow
madly singing
to the river’s
insistent tide
Los Angeles Poet Laureate Luis Rodriguez in Tujunga
Luis J. Rodriguez gave a reading at Tujunga Branch of Los Angeles Public Library and the Village Poets welcomed him on May 23, 2015: Dorothy Skiles, Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, and Maja Trochimczyk. Elsa Frausto who organized the reading could not attend but was present through her poems.
