Jessica Wilson and Jason Brain Co-Feature on August 24 at McGroarty Arts Center

The August Village Poets Reading will be held on Saturday, August 24, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. at the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga. The Center is located at: 7570 McGroarty Terrace, Tujunga, CA 91042.This event is a joint venture between the Village Poets of S-T and the McGroarty Arts Center. It is an opportunity to welcome the community to a relaxing and enjoyable late afternoon of poetry at the historic home of John Steven McGroarty, the first Poet Laureate of California.

 Two poets will share the stage, Jessica Wilson and Jason Brain. There will be open mike sessions and refreshments provided by the Village Poets. We will pass George Harris's hat to collect donations for the Center, for the use of the space.

JESSICA WILSON

Hostess and Founder of Writers' Row: Downtown LA's Official Written Art Showcase, SoapBox Poets Open Mic, Writer Wednesdays, and the NoHo Salon. She is the Los Angeles Organizer for 100 Thousand Poets for Change and Founder of the one and only Los Angeles Poet Society! 

Jessica teaches for California Poets in the Schools at a Poet-teacher. Newly published in anthology In the Company of Women by Edgar & Lenore's Publishing House, 2012 "Viva La Poetry", A feature on Jessica M. Wilson written by Apryl Skies for Examiner Magazine: http://www.examiner.com/poetry-in-los-angeles/jessica-wilson-viva-la-poetry 

An article written on Jessica's series, Writer Wednesdays by the NoHo Arts District E-zine, http://nohoartsdistrict.com/index.php/north-hollywood-news/item/1671-the-spirit-of-the-beats-and-the-beatnik#.UTfwHRyG26_ A Poet from East Los Angeles, CA, Jessica holds her Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Otis College, and a BA in both Creative Writing and Art History from UC Riverside. Her heart is to build a universal community of literary goodness in Los Angeles! She is a Beat girl, true and true.

JASON BRAIN

Lifelong native Angeleno, Jason Brain’s favorite hobby is breathing. When he’s not breathing, Jason is an up-and-coming Spoken Word Poet and artists advocate. His 1st published collection of poetry, Mix Tape Collection I: Original Poetry, is available to the public on Amazon.com. Jason is also a burgeoning Visual Artist of photography and geometry; a theatre playwright currently revising his “365 Day, 365 One Act” collection, Amerikana:365; and the creator and host of Soapbox Sessions, an established weekly Open Mic night in the San Fernando Valley.

Jason also likes to make time to play sports, meditate, and enjoy the little things in life (like beautiful sunsets, good friends, and delicious coffee) in between it all. He hopes to meet you soon.

Website: www.jasonbrain360.com
Twitter: @jasonbrain360
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jasonbrain360
Email: Jason@jasonbrain360.com
Soapbox: www.spreadthesoap.com

Directions to the McGroarty Arts Center: 

 Exit 210 freeway west at Lowell Avenue and travel north, uphill, until you reach Foothill. Turn left. Proceed through Tujunga until you see Denny's on the right. Turn left on Plainview. Follow Plainview past McGroarty Park. Turn right into the driveway at the art center. Parking is on the top lot and the bottom lot with many stairs leading from the lower lot. Enter at the back if a class is in session. 

 From the 210 freeway east, exit Sunland Blvd. Turn left and drive about three miles up Foothill (Sunland becomes Foothill) Denny's will be on your left. Turn right on Plainview (south) and continue past McGroarty Park to the entrance of the art center. (Beware of Yates Street at Tommy Burgers. Don't turn there).

KIRBY AND COLLINS READING  - A SUCCESS

The first ever co-feature at Bolton Hall, featuring Mina Kirby and Beverly Collins on July 28, was very well attended and well received. More pictures are in Picasa Album - July 28.

In the words of Dorothy Skiles: "Saturday's event went real well! We had about 30 folks that attended. A number of new visitors as well, in addition to the regulars and those coming to support Bev and Mina. The featured program with Mina and Bev was outstanding! Their poems were light-hearted, funny, poignant - always reaching for the heart of the matter. They were very well received by the audience. We had good participation with the open reading segments. Lots of good poetry! And good snacks!... It's great to see people gather and visit at the break, and after the readings!"

 One of the readers, Mina Kirby, wrote a note, in response: "Hi, Dorothy, Thank you and the other Village Poets for inviting me to read yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have always enjoyed the Village Poets -- You provide such a friendly, supportive atmosphere. And also thanks for the copy of the paper and the lovely flowers. The flowers are sitting over by the printer where I can see them and where the cat (who was very interested -- he wanted to bat at them...sigh!) cannot get to them. It was nice to be featured with Beverly. I enjoy her writing too."

MORE ON THE FOURTH OF JULY

Poets in the Parade, photo by Kresse Armour

The Fourth of July Parade included four poets in a Poet Laureate Convertible: Dorothy Skiles recited her occasional poem, Joe DeCenzo was a top-hat driver and brought Sousa Marches and the National Anthem music to play, Marlene Hitt was dressed in her poems (she made a vest of a copy of one chapbook, very original!), and Maja Trochimczyk wore the flag on her head and her heart... not knowing yet that her mom died in Poland on that very day...

More pictures from the Parade are on Picasa Web Albums - 2013 Fourth of July.

Pictures from Sunland - Tujunga, including the mountains, gardens, and local landmarks are in Maja Trochimczyk's Album - 2013 Sunland-Tujunga Postcards.

STAR- SPANGLED SKIES

This Fourth of July -

Let’s give a cheer

our town’s

parade is here!

Marching bands,

horseback riders,

carriages, classic cars,

and cycles

all making their way

down the boulevard.

Neighbors greeting,

friends meeting,

flags waving high!

Children giving chase

as fire trucks go by,

spraying the crowds,

cooling them down.

Sunland-Tujunga

that’s our town!

Star-spangled skies

will surely be alight

for this town will shine

in celebration tonight!

Young folks’, old folks’, all folks’  

eyes watching darkened skies

for the sights and sounds

of fireworks on jubilant display

on this our nation’s birth holiday!

Dorothy Skiles

07/03/13

©Copyright 2013 by D. Skiles

(Written for Sunland-Tujunga’s 2013 Fourth of July Parade.)

Dorothy Skiles, Maja Trochimczyk and Marlene Hitt at the Parade

Poets in the 4th of July Parade and Mina Kirby and Beverly Collins on July 28

The Poets Convertible, July 2013

Happy Fourth of July! Poets Laureate of Sunland Tujunga will ride in a Parade in a specially decorated Poetry Convertible. Dorothy Skiles, the 7th Poet Laureate of ST will be the star, accompanied by Marlene Hitt, the first Poet Laureate, Maja Trochimczyk, the sixth, and Joe DeCenzo, the fourth who will serve as the driver.

Look for us along the Foothill Blvd., from Mt. Gleason to Sunland Park. The Parade starts at 10 a.m. Rain or Shine! See some pictures from the previous parades:

Dorothy Skiles, Poet Laureate, 2012

STAR- SPANGLED SKIES

This Fourth of July -

Let’s give a cheer

our town’s

parade is here!

Marching bands,

horseback riders,

carriages, classic cars,

and cycles

all making their way

down the boulevard.

Neighbors greeting,

friends meeting,

flags waving high!

Children giving chase

as fire trucks go by,

spraying the crowds,

cooling them down.

Sunland-Tujunga

that’s our town!

Star-spangled skies

will surely be alight

for this town will shine

in celebration tonight!

Young folks’, old folks’, all folks’ 

eyes watching darkened skies

for the sights and sounds

of fireworks on jubilant display

on this our nation’s birth holiday!

Dorothy Skiles

07/03/13

©Copyright 2013 by D. Skiles

(Written for Sunland-Tujunga’s 2013 Fourth of July Parade.)

Dorothy Skiles and Joe DeCenzo, Fourth of July, 2012

Maja Trochimczyk, Poet Laureate, 2010 - Album of Photos

Maja Trochimczyk, Poet Laureate, 2011 - Album of Photos

Who has more stars on the hat? Maja or a donkey?

Marlene Hitt - Poet Laureate of 1999, has ridden with the Little Landers Society and the Bolton Hall Museum volunteers. This is the first year she's riding in the Poets Laureate Convertible. Here's her Fourth of July poem:

America the Beautiful

Purple mountain majesties,ridges lines with houses,
windows on fire with the sun,
plains fruited with lawns, 
beds with all the world's flowers,
strip malls.
Spacious haz-ed skiesdrop onto hillsides.
Ten thousand worlds spin
on city streets
and broken pathways.
Beliefs are slippery 
as brookside moss,
and all the laws begin
to slide downhill
into canyons below.
God shed
with brotherhood...
Death passes freely
through red signals,
killing is for fun
or for initiation.
All the genders dance
to piercing sound
making bird song silent.
Blades of eyes
thrust out in condemnation
as new legends are sung,
the old myths lost somewhere.
Changed words question
the Constitution.
Amber waves of grainstill wave, Wind
still blows, confused,
whirl, oceans warm.
Fractal gods rule in chaos
while the people
hide behind locked doors
or in empty cathedrals
from sea to shining sea.

Marlene Hitt 

Marlene Hitt and Maja Trochimczyk decorate the car for the Fourth of July, 2013.

_______________________________________________________________

KIRBY AND COLLINS FEATURED ON JULY 28, 2013

On July 28, 2013, the last Sunday of the first month of the summer, we will celebrate poetic voices at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga (10110 Commerce Avenue) with two Featured Poets: Mina Kirby and Beverly M. Collins. Both poets have been seen and heard at Village Poets readings and we are looking forward to their presentations. Two segments of Open Mike and Refreshments in a lovely, historic home for poetry in the foothills...

BEVERLY M. COLLINS

Beverly M. Collins grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, loves amusement parks, music and traveling. Collins applies lessons she learned from Songwriter Guild of America and the National Association of Record Industry Professionals to her poetry. She is the author of the book, "Quiet Observations," and one of the 2012 prize winners for the California State Poetry Society.

Her work has appeared in the California Quarterly, Poetry Speaks! Year of Great Poems and Poets Calendar. (Sourcebooks, Inc.). Beverly Collins often attends many readings around town, has worked with "Poets on Site" and has featured at the Cobalt Cafe, The Talking Stick, "Unbuckled" NoHo Poetry. She is a regular at Barnes and Noble Burbank monthly readings, as well as at The VillagePoets of Sunland-Tujunga Monthly poetry Reading Series.


Next

by Beverly M. Collins

From the tip-top of January
to the bottom of every December,
life is a continuum.
May we remember to remember.

There are no platforms on which we
halt. No arrivals at which we are landing.
There is only continuous movement.
Blend motion into all planning.

Next is a good four letter word that dances
on the tongue and illuminates the playgrounds
of our minds. Next can call loudly or soft
and subtle when it chimes.

Within the cold of winter remember next comes
fragrant flowers of spring. Next reminds us
there is no be-all or end-all to anything.

When riding a high tide or if low tide has one
feeling sadness or perplexed, know true muscle
can be found in how well we just say...Next!

Beverly M. Collins

MINA KIRBY 

Mina Kirby is a retired mathematics professor. She has survived a broken washing machine, a broken back and a broken heart, all of which provide rich material for writing poetry and stories. She has for many years been a folk singer and sometimes songwriter. Plagued with health problems in recent years, her writing is part of coming back to life. Mina is the author of several books, including Mathematical Dreams: Songs about Mathematics, a cookbook, and eight chap books. Her poetry has been included in Red Lights (tanka), The San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly, and Poetry and Cookies. She has presented her poetry at a number of venues, including Pasadena Art Talk. She lives in Altadena with her husband, daughter, two cats, a pet rat, and too many spiders.

When I Was Me *

by Mina Kirby

When I was me

in bow ribbons

and kittens

and ice cream

I saw spring melt

into a buttercup

and heard symphonies

in wind-wafted trees

When I was me

in turquoise

and breezes

and cartwheels

I ran up the mountain

the sun warm on my face

and caught sparkles

in a flowing brook

When I was me

lacy

and pink

and vibrant

I was in love

wanting togetherness

for every minute

and for all time

Where did I go

that long-haired

lemon-scented

idealistic girl

who thought

she could absorb

all the tastes

in the universe

What prickly troubles

put obstacles

in my path

changed starry-eyed into ordinary

or did I

caught in whispers

of shifting clouds

just let me slip away

Perhaps one day

when soft rains turn to sunshine

and flowing water

pours over hard rocks

in a small place inside myself

I will find clothed with soft smooth silk

in purple and crimson and gold

the new me

and learn to love her too

A Special Place

by Mina Kirby

It is warm here

Golden rays of sunshine

brighten green fields

fragrant with yellow flowers

The air sparkles

with hums of bees

and chirps of soaring birds

A gentle breeze ruffles my hair

In the distance

are sounds of an ocean’s roar

as it splashes against rocks

I could be here

yesterday

tomorrow

and today

I could be here in the sun

and the softly falling rain

in the cheerful daylight

and in the velvety darkness

I could be here with you

feel the warmth of your hand in mine

talk until the moon goes down

and stars sparkle in the night sky

We could walk

for miles and miles

absorbing the beauty

surrounding us

Or

I could be here alone

a little sadder

but content

as perhaps

some day

I will

cloaked in sunshine

remembering you

Poetry of Mari Werner and a Birthday

On February 27, 2011, when the eyes of the world were turned to the parade of sparkly designer dresses on the red carpet of the Oscars, poets gathered at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga to hear Mari Werner and to share their work. In fact, so many poets gathered, that the time allotted to one reader shrunk over the course of the afternoon from three poems and/or five minutes, whichever is shorter, to two poems and or three minutes, to one poem and one minute. The job of the MC, Maja Trochimczyk, was certainly challenging.

Our featured poet, the wonderful and witty Mari Werner, "makes her living" - as she says - "as a writer of technical materials, but lately makes her life as a writer of poetry and humor. She grew up in Santa Barbara, California, came to the Los Angeles area in the mid-70s, and now lives in Altadena. her work has been published in a number of local publications including the Los Angeles Daily News, The Latest, and the Valley Star."

Mari Werner amused, educated, and inspired her audience with the following poems and prose pieces: Fire and Friendship, Confessions of a Tree Hugger, For My Father, Warmth, Two Eyes Looking, Scarcity, Miranda for Civilization, Keep on Singing, Night Falling, Fighting, Napping, Squirrel haiku, Moorpark Park, Cops and Seat Belts, Finding the Holy Grail, Penguin Power, and Consciousness.

We previously quoted here Mari's lyrical piece about the Crescent Moon. Here are two humorous poems:

Squirrel haiku

Squirrels foraging
Just two operating speeds
Overdrive and stop

Moorpark Park

On the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard
and Moorpark Street is a park
called Moorpark Park.
It doesn't have a parking lot.
but if it did, it would be called
Moorpark Park Parking Lot.

Before and after Mari's poetry, we heard a variety of poetic voices, from local poets and guests, some of whom came from very far away. Sharon Chmielarz from Minneapolis, visiting California on a tour of readings, definitely was the one to get the "long distance" prize. We arranged her visit having been forewarned of her arrival. She is one of the poets published in the anthology "Chopin with Cherries" (edited by Maja Trochimczyk). Sharon read "Burning" from her new book Calling. See her website, www.sharonchmielarz.com for more information. Her friend, Mary Kay Rummel of Ventura read a poem named after and based on one of Stephen Linsteadt's paintings: "Feminine Restitution."

We also had guests from Ventura, Santa Barbara, Monrovia, Pasadena, and Palm Springs. Kathabela Wilson, the leader of Poets on Site, sketched them in her notebook! She also organized a wonderful birthday celebration of a Palm Springs painter and poet, Stephen Lindsteadt, by asking "open mike" poets to read their work they contributed to her upcoming anthology of ekphrastic poetry dedicated to and inspired by his paintings.

The book, called Art and Alchemy, will be published by Poets on Site and available through online bookstores. Poets Mira Mataric, Kathabela Wilson, Maria Elena Boekemeyer (Stephen's wife and editor of the "Badlands" journal), and Maja Trochimczyk read their work, inspired by different pieces from the Lindsteadt collection. Rick Wilson accompanied some poets on a flute, creating a wonderful mood... For images of Stephen's paintings visit his website: www.stephenlinsteadtstudio.com.

___________________________________________________

The next feature at the Village Poets reading, scheduled for March 27, at 4:30 p.m., will be the Spiritual Quartet, consisting of Lois P. Jones, Susan Rogers, Taoli-Ambika Talwar, and Maja Trochimczyk.

The Spiritual Quartet, formed in May 2010, consists of four women representing different spiritual traditions, while sharing the focus on positive values of compassion, inspiration, hope, illumination, creativity, and love. More information about the reading and the readers will follow!

______________________________________________


On April 17, at 4:30 p.m., Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga will present the work of Dr. John Z. Guzlowski, visiting California as a guest of the Modjeska Art and Culture Club, in honor of the "Milosz Year" - celebrating the anniversary of Polish Nobel-Prize winning poet, Czeslaw Milosz, who spent half of his life in Berkeley, California. Dr. Guzlowski's blog about his parents' ordeal in Buchenwald is published as: http://lightning-and-ashes.blogspot.com/. He also maintains a "clearing house" for all matters pertaining to Polish American writing, at: http://writingpolishdiaspora.blogspot.com

One of the "open mike" readers from our February event, Mina Kirby will soon appear at Boston Court Theater in Pasadena, featuring in Pasadena ARTTalk. On Saturday, March 12 at 1 p.m., she will present some of her poetry and songs. For more information see: http://www.playhousedistrict.org/arttalk/

Another "open mike" reader, Mira Mataric, previously featured at Village Poets (in November 2010), will co-feature with Taoli-Ambika Talwar at Moonday Poetry in Pacific Palisades. The Moonday series is held at Village Books of Pacific Palisades, www.moondaypoetry.com. Mira and Taoli-Ambika will appear on March 14, 2011, at 7:30 p.m.

_____________________________________________

In the top picture (L to R): Dorothy Skiles, Rick Dutton, Pauli Dutton, Joe DeCenzo, Rick Wilson, Kathabela Wilson, Mira Mataric, Sharon Chmielarz, Cindy Rinne, Mari Werner, Maria Elena Boekemeyer, Stephen Linsteadt, and Maja Trochimczyk.

In the middle picture (L to R): Rick Dutton, Pauli Dutton, Kathabela and Rick Wilson, Cindy Rinne, Maria Elena Boekemeyer, Stephen Linsteadt, and seated Mira Mataric, Mari Werner, and Maja Trochimczyk.

The sketch from Kathabela's notebook includes faces of open mike readers surrounding Mari Werner wearing a halo!

In the fourth picture (L to R): Taoli-Ambika Talwar, Susan Rogers, Lois P. Jones, and Maja Trochimczyk.