Showing posts with label DeCenzo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DeCenzo. Show all posts

Monday, February 26, 2018

The Lullaby of Teeth Anthology Reading on March 25, 2018

On March 25, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga (10110 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, park at Elks Lodge half a block away on the other side of Commerce) Village Poets of Sunland Tujunga will present


Four Poets from the Lullaby of Teeth Anthology
Eric Morago, Armine Iknadossian, Charles Harper Webb, and Bill Cushing

The reading will also include two segments of open mike and refreshments (catered by Lydia Grant). The  George Harris hat will be passed around to collect suggested donations for $3 per person for the upkeep of the Bolton Hall Museum, built by George Harris 105 years ago. 



About the Poets

Eric Morago is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet who believes performance carries as much importance on the page as it does off. He is the author of What We Ache For and Feasting on Sky. Currently Eric hosts a monthly reading series, teaches writing workshops, and is editor-in-chief and publisher of Moon Tide Press. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from California State University, Long Beach, and lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Beirut-born, Southern California-raised Armine Iknadossian is the author of United States of Love & Other Poems (2016). She has been featured most recently in The Altadena Poetry Review, Angels Flight Literary WestEntropy and The Rise Up Review. Her work can also be seen in the Alabama Literary Review, ArbutusPearl, Rhino, Split This Rock and The Nervous Breakdown. Armine has an MFA in Poetry from Antioch and has worked as a teacher, as assistant editor to Arianna Huffington, Robert Scheer and Molly Ivins, and most recently as bookstore manager of Beyond Baroque, a beloved, Los Angeles literary institution. Since 2013, Armine has been a Writing Consultant for The Los Angeles Writing Project through CSULA. She was recently chosen by Red Hen Press to be one of their Writers in the Schools. Find out more at armineiknadossian.com.

Charles Harper Webb's latest book, Brain Camp, was published in 2015 by the University of Pittsburgh Press, which will publish his next collection, Sidebend World, in 2018.  A Million MFAs Are Not Enough, a collection of essays on contemporary American poetry, was published by Red Hen Press in 2016.  Recipient of grants from the Whiting and Guggenheim foundations, Webb teaches Creative Writing at California State University, Long Beach, and is working on a novel.


Bill Cushing lived in various states, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico before moving to California. Returning to college after serving in the Navy and working on commercial ships, he earned an MFA in writing from Vermont’s Goddard College. He teaches at East Los Angeles and Mt. San Antonio colleges. He’s published in Aethlon, Brownstone Review, Mayo Review, Newtown Literary, Spectrum (as one of the “Top Ten Poets of L.A. in 2017)both volumes of the award-winning anthologies Stories of Music, and West Trade Review. His current project, “Notes and Letters,” combines poetry with music and can be found on Facebook and Youtube.


About the Anthology

The failed body, the failed mother, the failed love, Lullaby of Teeth: An Anthology of Southern California Poets explores the hazards of being human in a world of forest fires, daughters, inaugurations, pests, and social awkwardness. We are asked to “Read between the lines of code” and see as these poets have seen. With realistic language, sharp and vivid imagery, and a variety of forms that reveal their breadth of talent, these 18 Southern California poets have not failed in forging an anthology that readies the world for crisis and epiphany alike. 

 – Danielle Mitchell, author of Makes the Daughter-in-Law Cry and director of The Poetry Lab

With a combination of new and established poets, A Lullaby of Teeth showcases the variety and power of SoCal poetry. The common thread of these poems is their humanity. They tackle real issues of life, and death, with heart, insight, and, often, humor, so that the reader both feels and understands them.  

— G. Murray Thomas, author of Cows on the Freeway and My Kidney Just Arrived.

Photos from the "Eclipse Moon" Haiku Anthology Reading, February 25, 2018

The "Eclipse Moon" anthology was the "feature" at the Bolton Hall reading for February. After the two "featured readers" presented their own recent work (Deborah P Kolodji and William Scott Galasso), we were treated to a real poetry feast. Ms. Kolodji selected haiku from the anthology to create a lovely and thoughtful narrative. It was read by William Galasso, Kimberly Esser, Greg Longenecker, and Deborah P Kolodji. Kathabela Wilson and Rick accompanied the poets on flutes (Rick), tamboura and percussion (Kathabela). The four readers were given bouquets of camellias from Maja Trochimczyk's garden at the end of the reading. Refreshments prepared by Marlene Hitt included finger sandwiches by Lydia Grant. 

Dorothy Skiles commented: "The carefully woven tapestry of haiku delivered on stage by Deborah and Scott and other members of the Southern California Haiku Study Group on 2/25/18, echoed through the hall of the Bolton Hall Museum!" 

Deborah P Kolodji, and William Scott Galasso accompanied by Rick Wilson on flute.

Poets in attendance: Standing L to R: Maja Trochimczyk, Jonathan Vos Post, Joyce Futa, Sharon Hawley, Dorothy Skiles, Mari Werner, Pamela Shea, Marlene Hitt, Mary Torregrosa and Rick Wilson. Seated L to R: , William Galasso, Deborah P Kolodji, Dorothy Skiles, Kimberly Esser, Greg Longenecker and  Kathabela Wilson 

Seated: William Scott Galasso, Deborah P Kolodji, Kimberly Esser, Greg Longenecker 
Standing: Rick Wilson, Maja Trochimczyk, Kathabela Wilson

Deborah P Kolodji and Maja Trochimczyk in blue. Photo by Mary Torregrosa

Joe DeCenzo, photo by Kathabela Wilson

Dorothy Skiles, Photo by Kathabela Wilson





Monday, August 15, 2016

Word Bites at McGroarty Arts Center Open House, Saturday, August 20, 2016


Village Poets of Sunland –Tujunga Present 

WORD BITES 

at McGroarty Arts Center, 7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, CA 91042 

on Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

There will be four sets by six poets: Maja Trochimczyk, Elsa S. Frausto and Lois P. Jones at 12:30pm & 1:30pm; Joe DeCenzo, Art Currim & Marlene Hitt at 2:30pm and 3:30pm. 

These readings are scheduled in-between Regina Clark's docent tours of this historic site that was home to playwright and California Poet Laureate, John Steven McGroarty. 

All day, local artists will be presenting their artwork in booths and tents on the MAC park-like grounds. The Open House exhibitors-artists are: 



This event is part of the Maiden LA celebrations of art across Los Angeles and of the Sunland Tujunga Open Studios! Visti ST Open Studios website for a list and timeline of open houses locally: http://www.stopenstudios.com/




And don't forget, the week after, we have the exquisite poet Elline Lipkin and the sophisticated musical duet, Heather Donavon and Steve McCormick, who present on August 28, 2016 at 4:30 p.m. at Bolton Hall Museum on Commerce Avenue. 

See the post on our blog.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Elsa Frausto Becomes our Poet Laureate in the Passing of the Laurels Ceremony on April 27, 2014

The Sunland-Tujunga Poetry and Literature Committee

Presents

The Passing of the Laurels

The Induction of
 Elsa S. Frausto
Sunland-Tujunga Poet Laureate 2014

 Sunday, April 27, 2014, at 3:00 pm
McGroarty Arts Center, 7570 
McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, CA  91042

An afternoon of poetry and music, with poets Dorothy Skiles, Joe DeCenzo and guests. 

The program includes poetry readings, as well as music for piano and for guitar.

Free to the public. Reception to follow. 

Government representatives from local and federal offices will be in attendance.

Monday, March 24, 2014

Village Poets at Sunland-Tujunga Library for National Poetry Month, April 5 at 2 p.m.


Celebrate the National Poetry Month with a reading by the Village Poets at the Sunland-Tujunga Library.  The reading will be held at the Library on Saturday, April 5, at 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.  The Library is located at
7771 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga CA 91042, tel. (818) 352-4481.

Village Poets consist of four former Poets Laureate of Sunland - Tujunga (depicted above, L to R):

  • Marlene Hitt, the first Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga and the author of several chapbooks;
  • Joe DeCenzo, past Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga and a Department of Cultural Affairs grant recipient whose published works include The Ballad of Alley and Hawk;
  • Dorothy Skiles, the present Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, whose writing has appeared in a variety of publications and anthologies;
  • and Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, past Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, the founder of Moonrise Press that published three volumes of poetry and two anthologies, and author of over 200 published poems.

The Village Poets will be joined on this occasion by two guest poets: Dr. Mira Mataric, Serbian-American poet and writer, recipient of numerous awards and honors, author of 36 books (and counting), and Elsa S. Frausto, newly selected to serve as the Eight Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga. Elsa's induction ceremony will be on April 27 at 3 p.m. at the McGroarty Arts Center.


MARIKO KITAKUBO AND KATHABELA WILSON AT BOLTON HALL, MARCH 23



One of Mariko Kitakubo's tankas in Japanese with English translation read by Kathabela Wilson, accompanied by Rick Wilson on Japanese flute, and percussion instruments is on You Tube:


The reading took place on Sunday, March 23, 2014 and further pictures and videos will be posted.





THE PASSING OF THE LAURELS CEREMONY, APRIL 27, MCGROARTY ARTS CENTER

The Ceremony, during which Elsa S. Frausto will be crowned with a wreath of laurels and will start her term as the Eight Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, will take place on Sunday, April 27, 2014,  at 3:00 p.m., at the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga, CA.  The program will include readings by Dorothy Skiles, the outgoing Poet Laureate and Elsa S. Frausto, the newly sworn in Poet Laureate, music selections, and recognition of both poets and our community by our elected officials. Reception to follow.

Dorothy Skiles at McGroarty Arts Center

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Village Poets Celebrate the National Poetry Month at the La Crescenta Library on April 20 at 2 p.m.


Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Dorothy Skiles and Maja Trochimczyk at Village
Poets Reading from Meditations on Divine Names (Moonrise Press, 2013)
 In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga will be featured at Los Angeles County Public Library in La Crescenta (2809 Foothill Blvd., CA 91214) on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 2:00pm to 4:00pm.  The reading's program includes poetry by Dorothy Skiles, Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, as well as fellow past poets Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Maja Trochimczyk, Mari Werner and Beverly M. Collins. There is no open reading.

 PROGRAM

  • "Sensations" by Marlene Hitt, Dorothy Skiles and Joe DeCenzo read by Village Poets 
  • Dorothy Skiles 
  • Mari Werner 
  • Beverly M. Collins 
  • Group Reading of "Enrollment" by Joe DeCenzo 
  • Joe DeCenzo 
  • Marlene Hitt 
  • "Remembering" by Marlene Hitt, read by Lloyd and Marlene Hitt
  • Maja Trochimczyk 
  • Group Reading of "The Veil, The Weave" by Maja Trochimczyk 


VILLAGE POETS

Village Poets of Sunland Tujunga is a group of former Poets Laureate of Sunland Tujunga who organize poetry readings in their community, write poetry, and publish books, making sure that poetry life is rich and vibrant in the foothills. Every two years Village Poets organize a competition for the Poet-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga and, in order to involve the local community in the selection of its Poet-Laureate, establish a Poetry and Literature Committee of Sunland-Tujunga which selects the next Poet. Dorothy Skiles is the current Poet-Laureate in our community (2012-2014). Another important project of Village Poets is the Monthly Village Poets Reading at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga, CA. You can read about past and future featured poets on the Village Poets Blog. The upcoming readings are also announced in local "good news" paper - The Voice of the Village.

ABOUT THE POETS

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BEVERLY M. COLLINS was born in the small town of Milford, DE. She is the next to the youngest daughter in a family of five girls and grew up being absorbed by a love of music. Her family relocated to Central New Jersey ( Rahway, Plainfield, and Westfield). Having survived an uncertain early childhood which included losing two brothers in their infancy, the families frequent relocations, and witnessing her mother's turbulent marriage of repeated break-ups and reconciliations. Collins drew many conclusions about life that were later torn up and re-accessed. Using her love of music as medicine, she has arrived at a place of tender determination to brew a new stew of carefully selected life ingredients. She is one of the Prize Winners of the 2012 California State Poetry Society and her work appeared in the California Quarterly and Poetry Letter and Literary Review. Her work, "Child of Summer" is included in the Poetry Speaks! Year of great Poems and Poets 2009 Calendar and her poem "By Chance" appears in the July 2009 issue of Bits & Pieces, The magazine the motivates the world both are included in Quiet Observations, a collection of whimsical and thought-provoking poems that will lead readers to look at themselves and question their motives deep within. http://www.quietobservations.com/

JOE DECENZO grew up in Los Angeles and majored in theater and English Literature. From 2004-06 he served as poet laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. He produced the “Shouting Coyote” performing arts festival and was a Department of Cultural Affairs grant recipient. His published works include The Ballad of Alley and Hawk and the Study Guide and Poetry Primer for the same collection. He currently serves on the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, the planning committee for the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga, and as Chair of Poet Laureate Search Committee.

 MARLENE HITT is a Los Angeles poet, writer and retired educator with local history as an avocation. She has served for many years as Archivist, Museum Director, and Historian at the Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga. She is a graduate of Occidental College, a 26-year member of the Chuparosa writers and a member of the California Federation of Chaparral poets, John Steven McGroarty Chapter. Ms. Hitt served as Poet-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga 1999-2001. Her poetry has appeared in several journals, three chapbooks and in local newspapers. She has written the book Sunland-Tujunga from Village to City and served as columnist for the Foothill Leader, Glendale News Press, North Valley Reporter and the Voice of the Village newspapers since 1998.

DOROTHY SKILES, who has been writing since her teenage years, graduated from Cal State Northridge and pursued a career as a welfare worker, policy and Human Resources manager and analyst for the County of Los Angeles (retired after 34-years of service). Dorothy published her first chapbook, The Sidewalk Gallery in 1979. Other chapbooks followed: Ear to Earth (1996), Spine Flower Blues (1999) - a collaborative by the Chuparosa Writers - and Riddle in the Rain (2003) - with Marlene Hitt. Over the last 15 years, Dorothy has been involved in the local poetry scene and her poems appeared in a variety of community publications. She is the current (7th) Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga (2012-2014), a member of Chuparosa Writers, the Verdugo Hills YMCA Senior Advisory Board, the 2013 Bolton Hall Centennial Committee, and the Lutheran Church in the Foothills.

MAJA TROCHIMCZYK, Ph.D., is a poet, music historian, and photographer born in Poland and living in California (www.trochimczyk.net). She published four books on music, two volumes of poetry (Rose Always and Miriam’s Iris), and two anthologies (Chopin with Cherries and Meditations on Divine Names). Hundreds of her articles and poems appeared in English, Polish, as well as in German, French, Chinese, Spanish and Serbian translations, in The Loch Raven Review, Angie's Diary, Epiphany Magazine, Lily Review, SVGPQ, Cosmopolitan Review, The Scream Online, Phantom Seed, Sentiment, The Original Van Gogh’s Ear Anthology, Lummox Journal, and other venues. The Sixth Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, and the founder of Moonrise Press, she taught music history at USC and ethics in jail. She received awards and fellowships from ACLS, SSHRCC, USC, McGill University, Polish American Historical Association, and Poland’s Ministry of Culture.

MARI WERNER grew up in Santa Barbara California. She now lives in Altadena and makes her living as an independent technical writer. Her columns and articles have been published in a number of local and national publications including the Los Angeles Daily News and The Latest. Between paid projects, she’s working on a book that uses humor to make the basics and truths of economics accessible to ordinary people. Poetry and humor are Mari’s true writing loves, and she’s been writing poetry off and on since childhood. She’s been a regular at the Village Poets open readings since she started attending in May 2010. Though she loves nature, she finds most of her poetic inspiration in human life. Her plain-spoken poetry is often laced with a touch of humor or sarcasm, but beneath it is a hope for human kind and the creative energy in us all.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

More Poetry at the "Bite Me" Art Exhibition - Joe DeCenzo and Bryan Story


L to R: Rick Wilson, Dorothy Skiles,Alice Pero, Bryan Story, Marlene Hitt, Maja Trochimczyk, Joe DeCenzo, and Mina Kirby, Exhibition "Bite Me" at McGroarty Arts Center, March 16, 2013. Photo by Maria Kubal.
The Poetry Reading at the "Bite Me" Art Exhibition at McGroarty Arts Museum on March 16, 2013, was such a great success that we decided to add more poems to those published in the preview two weeks ago.  The exhibition, curated by artist Danielle Eubank, explored sensory, aesthetic, psychological, political, and historical aspects of food, from its cultivation and gathering to consumption.



Bryan Story reads at the "Bite Me" Art Exhibition. Photo by Maria Kubal.
Bryan Story wrote and read only one food-related poem that was, to quote the author, "vaguely positive."

                            LIKE BLACK EYED PEAS    

                            by Bryan Story
                                                                  
    delirious with sugar he heard his fork on it's way
      to the kitchen say to his spoon "they are what they eat"
        "that's what they always say" said the spoon
           "but this boy's just fat, not so sweet from eating all this pie"
               scolded by tableware, he thought what about black eyed peas?
                 these noble beans brought by shanghied farmers
                    not so thrilled to crack somebody else's corn but glad
                      to grow and eat cow-peas with a born again name
                                                
                     after a mess of mustard greens and yellow maters and
                   biscuits bathed in red eye gravy, Mom said
                 "clean your plate if you have room for some blueberry"
                 which she set before his eyes and rolled her own
                two black eyed peas she got from her father
               who got them from his Blackfeet mother who
             with the help of his Irish father, gave them to him
             and so with help from granma gave them to the
            fat boy's mother, whose Irish eyes were smiling
           like black eyed peas, and he thought
          mouth full of cobbler nothing could be better
                                                                         
                           (C)2012 William Bryan Story Jr. 

Ceiling beams at McGroarty Arts Center, Photo (c) 2013 by Maja Trochimczyk

Former Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga, Joe DeCenzo read two poems, one a retelling of a family story and the other one for fun...



The Merchant of Sound

He mends his gear by lamplight
Before the first set at dawn.
The captain of Cordova raises his crew
By pumping fuel into the propane grill
And setting breakfast on to sizzle.

In the same clothes he’s worn for the days
He steps into his grimy yellow pant bibs
And puts his rain slicker on.
It’s first light.  The salmon are running.
It’s time to haul the seine.

No GPS, No sonar
Just his instinct and knowledge of the water
He’s lived on since he was born.
He sees the dancing shadows
On the surface of the sea
That will be his payload.

He orders the skiffman to his rig
And tells him to head for shore.
The taste of liquor is all that kills
The greasy diesel fumes in his throat
And briny smell of fish guts on the deck.

With the lead line set
The corks chatter off the boat
Like a strand of pearls
Dropped into a glass of wine
As a quarter mile of net
Pays out over the stern.

From the helm he sees his grandson
Pumping the bilge, preparing the hold
And plunging the water
To scare the school of pinks into the net,
Remembering his days
When he was the greenhorn.
  
Whatever fish escape his clutch
And make it to the brackish water
Of the river inlets are home safe
Free to fight the bears and eagles
For a chance to spawn.

Steering the Bunny C. about,
He bellows the order to “close up!”
A scrambling crew draws the purse line
Harvesting the crop of Nelson Bay.
It’s a big set and the Bunny C. tips
As the power block struggles to pull the seine on deck.

Hundreds of tails hopelessly flap
In the pile of seaweed and jellyfish
Brought in with the catch
As they’re dumped into the hold;
The skin beneath their scales
Emblazoned with color.

Twelve more sets and the hunter of Hawkins Island
Radios the tender to sell his load and call it a day.
For three weeks, he and the crew
Live on the freshest fish, the stalest bread
And whatever canned goods the tender can purvey.

He rinses out tomorrow’s shirt in the galley sink
Hanging it to dry near the exhaust stack.                     
He draws a smoke and throws scraps to the otters and gulls
Having just pulled a thousand meals
From the endowment of the Sound.

©Joe DeCenzo
March/2013

Joe DeCenzo reads at the Bite Me Art Exhibition, March 16, 2013, Photo by Maria Kubal. 

 Don’t Put That In Your Mouth

Don’t put that in your mouth
You don’t know where it’s been
It might have been an animal
At some point, I concede
It could have been a vegetable
But not one grown from seeds
It roiled in a factory the likes you’ve never seen
So don’t put that in your mouth
Because you don’t know where it’s been

It never grazed in fields or even swam the seven seas
I’m sure it wasn’t gathered by a man in dungarees
It never roamed a range or even ate organic grass
It suckled on a test tube and was weaned on Pyrex glass
The cauldron that they churned it in was clean as they could find
That doesn’t kill the dankness from the cavern it was mined

Ingredients or additives, what difference does it make
When you’re chewing on and sucking down the filling your cake
To taste so damned delectable must surely be a sin
So don’t put that in your mouth because you don’t know where it’s been

© Joe DeCenzo
March/2013

Maja Trochimczyk at the Bite Me Exhibition. Photo by Maria Kubal.
By the time of the exhibition, Maja Trochimczyk did not yet have the proper image of the yellow sky that is needed to appreciate "The Taste of the Sky" about a Polish desert, an ice-cream substitute from Poland of the 1960s.



The Taste of the Sky

My mother's zupa nic - soup nothing
had puffy clouds of egg whites
floating in a yellow sea
of delight. I chased them
with my spoon that perfect summer.

I'm floating now
in thinning blue
of Technicolor sky
a meadow for
ten thousand cloud sheep
I cannot count while they
cast shadows
on tidy little gardens
of tidy little houses
of tidy little people

They go about their daily chores
folding sheets, baking bread,
I'm cooking up a storm
of dreams that will soon vanish
like clouds in my soup nothing




(c) 2013 by Maja Trochimczyk
Published in Poetry and Cookies anthology, ed. Pauline Dutton, Altadena, 2009.



Album of pictures from the reading is now available on Picasa Web Albums:

Monday, March 11, 2013

Poetry at the "Bite Me" Art Exhibition,McGroarty Arts Center, March 16, 2013, 2:00 p.m.


We are thrilled to invite all our readers and poetry lovers to a Special Poetry Reading by Village Poets held on March 16, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at the recently opened



7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, CA 91042


The Village Poets Reading on Saturday, March 16, will feature poetry about food written and read by local poets: Dorothy Skiles, Poet-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, as well as Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Alice Pero, Mina Kirby, Kathabela Wilson, Bryan Story, and Dr. Maja Trochimczyk. There is no Open Mike Reading on this day.

The "Bite Me" Exhibition, curated by Danielle Eubank, faculty member at the McGroarty Arts Center, is open daily from March 9 to March 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., except Sundays. It ends with an Arts Fair on Saturday, March 23, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.


The following artists are included in the "Bite Me" Exhibition: Suzy Beal, Debby Beck, Sonia Mae Beduya, Dacia Calkins, Melanie Chapman, Sara Chao, Laney Clevenger, Michele Collender, Preston Craig, Chick Curtis, Miriam Dema, Babs Fine, Stacia Gates, Sheri Garwood, Barbara Harrison, William Hartdegen, R. Rene Hoffman, Mark Kennedy, Linda Kunik, Nancy LaCroix-Toyne, Evy Lareau, David Long, Sandra Low, Athena Mantle, Laura Marchetti, Barry Michlin, Lissa Mooney, Glenn Newland, So Jung Park, Rollence Patugan, Jess Perry, Ho Yan Pun, Linda Queally, Ainsley Rickert, Nita Sinaga, Yuki Toy, Laura Jean Toyne, Elizabeth Tucker, Colleen Underwood, Dawn Valli, Nicola Voss, and Jenny Ziomek.


McGroarty Arts Center. Photo by Maja Trochimczyk
McGroarty Arts Center. Photo (c) by Maja Trochimczyk

While discussing the theme, Curator Danielle Eubank asked: "What does food mean to you? Such a simple word, food, something we all need. At the same time it is a complex topic sparking social, political, economic, and cultural debate. Is it nutrition or is it a geo-political lever? What do you like to eat? What is real food? How does our culture differ from others? How do you eat? Is food simply for fuel or do you eat it for comfort, cultural holidays, and social gatherings? How is food related to body image? Is it a symbol of abundance? Power? Food affects the local and global economy through food trucks, genetic modification (GMOs), food production, farmers markets, food security, and homelessness. It impacts our health and society through diabetes, obesity, anorexia, bulimia, meals in schools, food labeling, organic, portions, food pyramids, fat, calories, carbohydrates, vitamins, slow food, hunger, and desire."

Dorothy Skiles read her new poem at the Opening of the Exhibition on March 9, 2013.

Dorothy Skiles at the Opening of "Bite Me" Exhibition, March 9, 2013


I LOVE MY ROMA TOMATO!


Canvas One

The eye of the artist
Is familiar with the oval
Shape, the texture of
A perfect Roma tomato –
Firm and ripe.
Its meat sweet, yet tart.
She lightly sketches
The tomato on canvas.
Satisfied,
The artist prepares
Her brushes and palette.

Canvas Two


With the flick
Of the her wrist,
The color yellow
Appears on canvass,
The artist envisions
The perfect omelet
Garnished with parsley
On a white ceramic plate.

Her favorite omelet
Comes to mind –
Filled with sautéed mushrooms,
Scallions, and red bell pepper.
A Roma tomato thinly sliced,
Topped with a sprinkle
Of cheddar cheese,
So pleasing to
The eyes and palate!

Canvas Three


A late afternoon sun,
Lights a dark corner
Of her studio, where
Unfinished sketches
On canvas lean
Against the wall, forgotten.
The artist thumbs through
The stack,and finds
A sketch of her mother.

A memory awakens…

Her mother in the kitchen
Bent over the cutting board
Peeling Roma tomatoes,
Scooping out the seeds,
Tossing garlic and onions
In the cast iron pot with hot
Olive oil sizzling!
Then come the tomatoes,
The oregano,
Basil,
Bay leaf,
Tomato paste,
A sprinkle of sugar,
A pinch or two of
Red pepper flakes
And some red wine.

Sauce simmers for hours,
The aroma rises from the
Stove, fills the house.
The artist’s lets these
Memories linger -
She can almost taste the
Savory red sauce!
Now, finished with the sketch
Of her mother, she picks-up
The brush and palette
And lets her hand
Glide across the canvas.


Dorothy Skiles
3/9/13

© Copyright 2013 by D. Skiles

(First reading: Opening of the McGroarty Arts Center Exhibition and Fair, March 9, 2013.)





Bite Me! Art Exhibition curated by Danielle Eubank, McGroarty Arts Center

GATHERING AT GALE’S

by Dorothy Skiles

~ to George and Dena

At half past seven…

Evening sky still
so young and so full
of the colors
of early dusk
that scatters its light
across the horizon…

            Meet you and Dena
            on your way
            to Albany.
You greeted us
with a familiar
embrace, as
we came up
the walk,
            and led us
            to our place.
            among family. 

Broke bread,
poured wine,
savored the
time together.
Conversation
sprinkled the meals  
of seafood stew,
pasta with lamb,
pork with rosemary,
potatoes and garlic.

And when we caught
our breaths, coffee and
bread pudding were
shared before parting,
before we’d miss you,
again.


Dorothy Skiles
Rev. 03/16/13
©Copyright 2013 by D. Skiles


American fruit tart. Photo (C) 2010 by Maja Trochimczyk
American fruit tart. Photo (C) 2010 by Maja Trochimczyk
Marlene Hitt will read a wide cross-section of her food-related poetry. The first Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, she is the Director of the Bolton Hall Museum, and the driving force behind the Village Poets Monthly Readings held there. At the McGroarty Arts Center's exhibition we will hear her poems: Best of Bites, Mother's Day, Feast Day, Vegetable Booth, and Irish Moss.

Mother’s Day

Mother.

Mint leaves from her garden,
baby carrots, snap peas,
red-ripe tomatoes, and apricots...
As with paint pots before canvas,
her hands the brushes,
she arranges the color of the meal.
Monet’s gardens hang for centuries,
hers are devoured in an hour,
displayed only in memory. Meals.
Potatoes sprinkled with parsley,
lamb with Asian pear and kiwi salsa.
Chipotle-glazed apples,
chicken dumpling soup
with lemon grass and cilantro.
Vanilla bean souffles, flour pudding.
From her hands:
bok choy cooked crisp-tender,
haggis and ale, oatcakes and mutton.
Her treat, oreos, vanilla ice cream,
grilled cheese, strawberry milk.
Once, warm bread, this morning’s cream,
corn cob jelly, french toast,

Mother.

Acorn mush, piki and a sprig of sage.The artistry of the nurturer.

Mother.

(C) by Marlene Hitt

Marlene Hitt


Irish Moss - the Reaping

We waited for a full moon,
waited for midnight,
waited for the fullness of knowing...
Like knowing when
to harvest the moss.

Some searched in the morning
when the sun was high, the air clear,
when dew remains as it drops from grasses.
All of us wait
for the time of the reaping
of the carrageen
when the people gather,
reap together
to pick under midnight moon,
the seaweed,
which will become transformed
into the sweetest of puddings.
Magic, it is, the moss beside the sea,
the reapers, to thicken the pudding.


(c) by Marlene Hitt


Vegetable Booth


Apples are ripe on the apple vine,
carrots are grown through the roof.
I’ll grind some spinach to make some wine,
Yes, I’ll set up a vegetable booth
with turnip flowers and melon juice,
a strawberry bunch tied with string
with chocolate prunes and sour vermouth
and a tart lemon pie. I will bring

cabbage leaf jam and zucchini jelly
a pot of squash and leek stew.
Bring your coins and appetite
be part of the vegetable crew.


(c) by Marlene Hitt


Maja Trochimczyk picks mushrooms in the Sierras
Maja Trochimczyk picking mushrooms in the Sierras, 2011
Maja Trochimczyk will read a sample of her food-related poems, including "How to Make a Mazurka" from Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse anthology published by Moonrise Press in 2010 to celebrate the bi-centennial of Chopin's birth.  The poem is about a Polish "mazurka" which refers both to a special cake for Easter and a dance that Chopin loved.  Maja will also read her poems "On Mushrooms" published on the Poetry Laurels Blog in August 2011 (reprinted below), and "On Eating a Donut at a Krakow Airport" published on the Chopin with Cherries Blog in January 2013.

Easter dishes - ham, mazurka, herring, salads, chocolate
Polish Easter dishes including the mazurka, 2011.

            

How to Make a Mazurka


Maja Trochimczyk
    
                         After Mazurka in A Minor, Op. 17, No. 4,
                        for my Grandparents, StanisÅ‚aw and Marianna Wajszczuk,
                        who could play and bake their mazurkas like no one else            

          Take one cup of longing
for the distant home that never was,
one cup of happiness that danced
with your shadows on the walls

of Grandpa’s house, while he played
a rainbow of folk tunes
on his fiddle, still adorned
with last wedding’s ribbons

            mix it – round and round to dizziness

stir in some golden buzz of the bees
in old linden tree, add the ascent
of skylark above spring rye fields,
singing praises to the vastness of blue

            mix it – round and round to dizziness

add chopped walnuts, figs, dates
and raisins, pour in some juice
from bittersweet grapefruit
freshly picked in your garden

add dark grey of rainclouds in Paris
that took Chopin back to the glimmer
of candles in an old cemetery
on the evening of All Souls’ Day

            mix it – round and round to dizziness

bake it in the cloudless heat
of your exile, do not forget to sprinkle
with a dollop of sparkling crystals,
first winter’s snowflakes at midnight 



King Boletus (prawdziwek) mushrooms in the High Sierras, CA
King Boletus (prawdziwek) found in the High Sierras, California, 2011.

On Mushrooms

Maja Trochimczyk


In the forest of Christmas trees for giants
I look for the shapes of mushrooms
I used to know well – hiding
In tall grass under the aspen,
Beneath piles of pine needles and bark

Prawdziwek
– the true one,
The king of the forest, Boletus
Rules in unexpected places
Among birch twigs and Douglas fir
Osaki, Kozaki – his second-rate,
Still lovely cousins wait in the shade
Among manzanita, wild currants and fern.

I find bitter, colorful szatans,
Pretending to be true
Pale muchomory my grandma used
To kill flies in a glass filled with sugar water
Psie grzybki fit for a dog
That would not eat them
And twisted, tree-growing huba
I do not know how to cook.

My share of mushrooms?
The toxic lookalikes of true ones!
That’s all there is in this
Enchanted forest for me.

And this is why, my dears, I wrote
And you read Confessions
Of a Failed Mushroom-picker.



King Boletus (prawdziwek) mushroom in the High Sierras, CA
King Boletus (Prawdziwek) found in California.

On Mushrooms was first published in Poetry Laurels Blog; reprinted in The Voice of the Village in September 2011. 

McGroarty Arts Center, mushroom and cake photos (c) 2011 by Maja Trochimczyk.

Album of pictures from the reading is now available on Picasa Web Albums: