Christine Jordan Features on June 24, 2018 and Village Poets Write About Love and Nature

Village Poets are pleased to present Christine Jordan as featured poet on Sunday, June 24, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. The Village Poets Monthly Readings are held at Bolton Hall Museum, 10110 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, CA 91042. The readings include 30 min. for the featured poet, as well as two open mike segments. Refreshments are served and $3 donations collected for the cost of the venue, the second historical landmark in the City of Los Angeles, that celebrated its centennial in 2013. The Museum is managed by the Little Landers Historical Society, named after the "little land" that each settler received in the Tujunga and Sunland foothills when the area was settled. The readings adhere to a self-imposed PG-13 rating, without extreme depictions of sex or violence, and with an air of gentility,  so poets use their words to bless the world, rather than curse it.

CHRISTINE JORDAN

CE (Christine) Jordan has performed and created unique dance/theatre work all her life. Her signature dance opus, ‘LA Breakdown’, a 6-part dance/theatre work, premiered in sections from 1984 to 1987 at Cal State LA, and came together in a complete showing at Fringe Festival LA in Fall 1987, entertaining folks for two weekends at the Mac Arthur Park Bandshell.  She was bitten by the poetry bug in 1982, and has subsequently had her work published in  Armchair/Shotgun, Blue Satellite, Rivertalk and other journals over the years.

Her true love, though, is blurring lines & meshing genres. She began staging her poetry and stories in 1996,  performing with The Nannette Brodie Dance Theatre in 1996-97.  Most notably, her signature theatre opus, ‘Notes on a Country Childhood’, an evening solo outing full of touching and entertaining stories and poems about her rural childhood in Ojai, CA, has been performed in parts and as a whole in various theatrical and non- traditional performing spaces since 2009. She edits, combines, and happily riffs on this material as part of the texts for many Story Chicks pieces, the two gal theatre company she began with Terri MartinLujan in 2013. This is yet another example of getting ‘bitten’ by a good idea!

Ms Jordan’s current solo work includes ‘Map to the Stars’ with live piano accompaniment by Craig Kupka, which debuted at ArtShare LA in March 2016, and its next incarnation, ’Tinsel Town, tall tales of a ballerina in Hollywood‘, which enchanted young and old at the Hollywood Ivar Branch of the LA Public Library in July 2017. ‘A Model Life’, her humorous run-down of life as a fashion model in the 70’s and 80‘s, debuted at The Coffee Gallery Backstage in Dec. 2016 and then was seen with new visuals as part of  Moda 360 at The New Mart downtown LA in Aug. 2017. Story Chicks’ newest opus, ‘Starstruck, your name in lights’ a show about young performer’s dreams and stumbles, is currently being developed to debut in early summer 2018. A cabaret version of the show debuted in March 2017 at The Padua Hills Theatre in Claremont.

CE has her BA in dance/UCLA and MA in Theatre/CSULA. She has studied ballet and tap intensively, danced with The Moving Co. a Pasadena-based modern dance company, part of the NEA Dance Touring program, from 1973-78, worked with Bella Lewitsky and Miriam Nelson on stage and in television, and with Debra DeLiso in acting and staging memoir.  She has also created costumes and props for local LA theatre companies, including her favorite company, The Foliage Theatre Project, throughout the 1990s. Ms Jordan spent 10 pretty marvelous years modeling on the runway, for TV, and editorial shoots, represented by Mary Webb Davis in LA and by Ellen Harth in NY. Her career teaching creative dance and theatre to children spans 25 years, and she continues to learn and create by the seat of her pants!

possum garden                  by C.E. Jordan

this living-space

out of doors, by

day, glows, shift-

ing its spotlights.

But by night to

night I found

all the familiar

places hording their

own kind of light.

Like my white x-

mas lights, strung

common, are now

as good as

steaming

searchlights, making

my pagoda’s ceiling

its own Hollywood

premier

and the latest

possum waddling

across the red

carpet, shining

his day-glo mime-

masque right straight

in my direction. Creatures

tame and not, natural

for the most part, go

phosphorescent, and

blink tidings from

white patches

here and there. And

Vinca and periwinkle-shaped

wheels of light,

teeming stars

in white crockery

whiter and still no

moon. Then

  

the sounds like heat

seem to rise and

float dismembered

in the semi-darkness.

Voices badgering, more

wild things whining low.

And crickets, I’m sorry,

but you have to hear

this tiny, squeaking

chorus, hallelujahs

& noir plots this

night, growing home-

made stories &

third man types

shadow-hopping,

wild life out

here.

VILLAGE POETS NEWS

The May 27, 2018 reading by Seven Dhar and presentation by Abby Diamond were full of inspirational moments and true poetic delights. 

Seven Dhar, Maja Trochimczyk, Abby Diamond

Abby Diamond presented an original torn-paper collage to Moonrise Press, for use in the press's publicity.

We decided to post some of the Village Poets recent verse and bring more love to the world from our foothill community.

 Love’s Cliche

by Joe DeCenzo

May the words of the tired uninspired hackneyed poets

Ring out louder than the bells of Westminster if those words be love

If love be cliché then let me soak in its ponderous rain.

Let its mundane repetition fill the tomes of mankind

Its every margin and indentation ‘til there is no blank space

Let it be the first word spoken at daybreak

The last word murmured at prayers

And the longest note sustained in every choral song

Let Love be the first ingredient of every recipe

The first provision of any contract

The last word uttered with my dying breath

Thorns

by Marlene Hitt


I know the rose
the splendid rose
I know the thorns
the tender skin
the gash
I know the gash
I know the fur
caught on the thorn
I know the fur
I know its warmth
I know the warmth
the noontime sun
the face of the rose
as it greets my eye
I know the rose
I know the thorn

the thorn I never touch.

Wash Wonderland

by Pamela Shea

Wash Wonderland

2/5/18 – Pamela Shea

Alice falls

Through the looking glass

Surfacing

In the wash

In the distance a dog howls

In trees birds flutter

She whistles

To her friends

Overhead

A flock of geese fly, fly, fly

They call, sing

Reconfiguring 

Hummingbird flits

From flower to flower

Mesmerizing

With the whir of wings

A crow caws, caws, caws

Seemingly scolding

In no hurry

To vacate its post

West to east

Sky pushes past moon

On its way

To golden sunrise

Indulge dear Alice

She is quite harmless

Carefully she steps 

Sauntering along, sauntering along, sauntering along 

In the past she ran

Trying to escape

Now she hops and skips

Into the future  

When she leaves

It will be blessing

She will fly, fly, fly

Somewhere far beyond

Perhaps north

To mountains

Or south

To deserts

Maybe east

To sunrise

Or west

To ocean sunset

Won’t you please join Alice

When you are able?

Wonderland exists

Wherever one chooses

Here, here, here

by Maja Trochimczyk

I love my mountains

blue and spring green still

under clear azure expanse,

their velvet pleats pile up

in layers above the valley

rock pathways in empty riverbed.

This is the Earth - naked

free of trees and houses, of rush

and pavement and cars on hot asphalt

in LA summers - this is

pure repose - serenely breathing

slowly, deeply - in the cycle of centuries

I love my mountains

the bluish shadows on distant slopes

manzanita and sage scattered 

on those close by- they open

like curtains into infinity - to let me in

beyond the next peak, the next canyon

into new worlds that grow within

in warm sunlight, under cool glow

of spiraling galaxies before dawn.

I'm here, I found my life

waiting for me under the indigo

cupola outlined with deep purple

at the ridges -  here crickets

measure the night as they sing

"we are here, here, here, here..." 

while birds sleep

hidden among branches.

Only the distant waves of truck noise

from the freeway remind me

that this paradise of mine

this magic, fluid, living 

folding and unfolding is my LA home

my own LA LA Land, of sweet

mountains under the brightest of Suns.

Unbridled

by Dorothy Skiles


Fond memory
ever so softly, quietly
calls to me…                                   

Monarch butterflies
in early summer’s flight
flutter through and beyond
mother’s morning glory vines
dressed in brilliant blues
and free to grow unbridled
along the chain link fence
of my childhood.

Butterfly by Bill Skiles (2013).

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH

Since May is the Mental Health Awareness Month and in 2018 also the month of the "We Rise" campaign by the Department of Mental Health of Los Angeles County, some poets at the reading dedicated their work to increasing the awareness of mental health issues, and the importance of health and wellness.  

Dr. Maja Trochimczyk of Phoenix Houses of California, and Moonrise Press, read poems inspired by nature and reflections on finding and maintaining emotional well-being in life.  Other poets, like Pamela Shea, Dorothy Skiles, and Marlene Hitt, selected work inspired by the love of nature, reproduced above, as expressions of wisdom and beauty of the natural world and its soothing effect on human emotions and psychological well-being. 

Flyers about Phoenix House  behavioral health services in California were available during the event. More information about "We Rise" may be found on DMH website: http://whywerise.la/

Seven Dhar - Poet, and Abby Diamond - Artist, Featured on May 27, 2018

Sunset Shadows by Abby Diamond

On Sunday, May 27, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. the Monthly Reading of Village Poets presents poet Seven Dhar and artist Abby Diamond. The Village Poets Monthly Readings are held at Bolton Hall Museum, 10110 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, CA 91042. The readings include segments of 20 min. for the featured poet and artist, as well as two open mike segments. Refreshments are served and $3 donations collected for the cost of the venue, the second historical landmark in the City of Los Angeles, that celebrated its centennial in 2013.

The Museum is managed by the Little Landers Historical Society, named after the "little land" that each settler received in the Tujunga and Sunland foothills when the area was settled. The readings adhere to a self-imposed PG-13 rating, without extreme depictions of sex or violence, and with an air of gentility,  so poets use their words to bless the world, rather than curse it.

SEVEN DHAR

BIO: Seven Dhar aims to push the limits of language, East and West, performing in Sanskrit and Gaelic, Spanish and the awed tongue of mystics. A Buddhist meditator, yogi, and urban shaman with Los Angeles Native American roots, he graduated from UC Berkeley and UCLA and also studied at Yale and Oxford; 2018 San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival slam poetry finalist, 2015 winner of the SGVPF chapbook and broadside contests; voted “poet laureate” by popular acclaim at Poetrypalooza 2016; LA Poet Society 2015 National Women’s Month dual acrostic poetry contests; co-host of the DTLA Poetry Meetup; published in Coiled Serpent, Eagle Rock Library Anthology, Altadena Poetry Review, Yay! LA Magazine, The Border Crossed Us, Spectrum, LA Word Salon’s LAWS Review, Karineh Madhessian's Heartbreak, Hometown-Pasadena; featured poet at the L.A. Shakespeare Fest and LitFest Pasadena along with the Poets in Distress troupe.

In the Wash - by Abby Diamond

THE SHAMAN

By Seven Dhar

The shaman climbed the mountain, gathered sacred flowering herbs and berries along the way -- Datura moonflowers, toloache, Brugmansia angel's-trumpets, Salvia apiana sage, kasiile, toyon, holly -- until delirium overwhelmed him with lurid and ecstatic visions of hell and heaven. Then he returned to the human world.

Word spread of him. People asked, "Is it true, as they say, you have seen hell?" "I have." "What's it like?" "It's hideous, ironic, horror beyond imagination," the shaman winced to relive, nearly blinded by his recollection: "There's food everywhere, but no one eats, and drink aplenty, but no one drinks. There are long wooden spoons with which to partake, but their bodies have only tiny appendages for arms, too short to bring such elongated spoons up to their shriveled lips. Parched slaver forms ashes in their mouths, and bodies waste away. Struggle as they might, everything goes to wrack and ruin. They bellow in agony." The people shrank away, with growing acreage dedicated to burying their discarded surplus collapsing under smoldering heaps of trash.

"And heaven?" asked the hopeful. "Is it true as they say, you have seen heaven?" "I have." "And what's it like?" they pleaded. "Heaven," the shaman revealed, "is exactly the same."

"What," cried the people, "the same? Surely that is no heaven!" "There is one difference," the shaman went on to explain. "In heaven, there is an abundance of food and drink, long wooden spoons, and bodies with tiny appendages too short to bring these utensils up to their mouths. But the beings there, without hesitation, use the long spoons to feed one another. There is no want. No request ever goes unanswered, no desire unfulfilled. Acts of kindness overflow as do spoons. Spoon fed and cared for, there are continuous cries of gratitude and rejoicing as beings fall over one another to be the first to give. There is food, and they eat. There is drink, and they drink, and they relish diversity and bounty. They care for one another, nourish one another, thank one another. The sweetness of their caresses, gentleness of their words, kindness of their eyes," the shaman wept to recall, "make the place so beautiful that I only wish I could have shown one world to the other."

ABBY DIAMOND - ARTIST

Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Abby Diamond studied a variety of art techniques, including papier-mache, sculpting, and painting. Inspired by her love for nature, her torn-paper mosaic landscapes combine methods and theory learned from oil, watercolor and Chinese brush painting, creating pure expressions of color, layer, shape, and texture.

Abby has shown her work in the 2017 Art in the Art house exhibit at the Pasadena Laemmle Theatre, and the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga, where she currently lives. She is a member of the Collage Artist of America, Chatsworth Fine Arts Council, and the Women’s Caucus for Art. Her piece entitled “Yucca” was the cover art for the official publication of the California State Poetry Society’s, California Quarterly, Issue 44/1.

Please visit her Etsy shop to see more of her work. Prints and greeting cards are available at https://www.etsy.com/shop/AbbyDiamondArt

Yucca by Abby Diamond

 The artist's studio - working on the Yucca.

Dancing Trees by Abby Diamond

VILLAGE POETS NEWS

Some photos from the April 22, 2018 reading by Dr. Andrew Peterson with musicians Art Stucco and John Palmer are posted below.

Art Stucco (singer songwriter) and percussionist John Palmer open the reading.

Elsa S. Frausto

Host Joe DeCenzo

Poet Laureate Pamela Shea

Dr. Andrew Peterson 

Marlene Hitt

Maja Trochimczyk with the California Quarterly

The three featured artists in their hats...Andrew Peterson, John Palmer and Art Stucco.

Poets and guests at the April 22 reading. 

Work by Village Poets appeared recently in two prestigious publications:

The California Quarterly, 44 no. 1, journal of the California State Poetry Society, included poems by Village Poets Marlene Hitt, Maja Trochimczyk, and Pamela Shea.  Other Californian poets in this journal featured several poets featured at Bolton Hall Museum: Deborah P Kolodji, William Scott Galasso, Kath Abela Wilson, and Margaret Saine. Maja Trochimczyk edited the journal, with Abby Diamond's "Yucca" on the cover.

Village Poets with the Altadena Poetry Review, and artwork by Toti O'Brien.

April 29, 2018

The Altadena Poetry Review 2018, edited by Elline Lipkin and Pauli Dutton. presented work by Marlene Hitt, Pamela Shea, Dorothy Skiles, Maja Trochimczyk of the Village Poets, and many of our regular participants and featured poets, including Seven Dhar, Mira Mataric, Thelma D. Reyna, Teresa Mei Chuc, Don Kingfisher Campbell, Mary Weaver, Janet Nippell, and many others.

Village Poets and Friends published in Altadena Poetry Review 2018: Beverly M. Collins,

Dorothy Skiles (Pushcart Prize nominee!), Marlene Hitt, Pamela Shea, and Maja Trochimczyk.

Altadena Public Libary, April 29, 2018. Background  - artwork by Toti O'Brien.

Maja Trochimczyk's photographs of roses are shown as part of the "California Blooming" exhibition at the Hellada Gallery in Long Beach, on Linden St. The exhibition, curated by Marek Dzida, is on display until May 30, 2018

MAY - MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH

Since May is the Mental Health Awareness Month and in 2018 also the month of the "We Rise" campaign by the Department of Mental Health of Los Angeles County, Dr. Maja Trochimczyk mentioned information on the importance of access to services and health and wellness and brought flyers for distribution during the event.  She also read poems  about maintaining emotional well-being in life.  More information about "We Rise" may be found on DMH website: http://whywerise.la/

Poets Laureate Update from Pam Shea and Dana Gioia

Photo by Pam Shea

Pamela Shea was elected to serve as Sunland-Tujunga's Poet Laureate in April 2017.  A year has passed and much has been done so far. Here is her reflection, some poems and photos from recent events, and a list of events she participated in. We wish Pam another successful year!

Passing of the Laurels Ceremony, April 2017 with Elsa Frausto, Dorothy Skiles, 

Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Pam Shea and Maja Trochimczyk

UPDATE FROM PAMELA SHEA

As I celebrate the one-year mark in my role as the 9th Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, I am delighted to reflect on all the activities I have participated in during the past 12 months.

I am thrilled to serve our local Foothills community through poetry, and I have enjoyed writing poems for special events, including the Sylmar Woman’s Club gathering at the Odyssey Restaurant, the Verdugo Hills YMCA’s Spring Tea, a variety of occasions at McGroarty Arts Center, and several activities at the Sunland-Tujunga Branch Library. Taking poetry “to the people” is one of my chief goals as Sunland-Tujunga Poet Laureate.

I have also discovered a newfound freedom in my writing. I am honored to have had my poems selected for publication in the Altadena Poetry Review 2018, as well as in the Spring 2018 issue of the California State Poetry Society’s California Quarterly Vol. 44 No. 1, edited by Maja Trochimczyk.

As Poet Laureate, I have been privileged to have the opportunity to get to know other poets while hearing and reading a wide range of poetic styles. In my second year in this role, I look forward to meeting more wonderful people and continuing to celebrate our local community and its people, flora, and fauna through poetry.

~ Pamela Shea

Pam as Betsy Ross for the 4th of July Parade 2017

Poetry Events, Pamela A. Shea, 2017-2018

• 4/1/17 - Clark Magnet School, Foothills Relay For Life, opening ceremony
• 5/6/17 - The Odyssey Restaurant, Sylmar Woman’s Club Fashion Show & Luncheon, Follow Your Muse
• 5/6/17 - McGroarty Arts Center, Wine Tasting Event - The Wine of Glorietta by John Steven McGroarty, McGroarty Magic by Pamela Shea
• 5/16/17 - The Backdoor Bakery, Relay For Life Fundraising event by The Painter In You, Relay Painting Event Poem Series, Relay poems
• 5/22/17 - Verdugo Hills YMCA, Spring Tea Party, photo and poem combination reading 
• 6/3/17 McGroarty Arts Center, 14th Annual Ceramics Juried Open Exhibition, Ceramics
• 7/29/2017 - Oceanview Restaurant, Wine Glass Paint Night Fundraiser for La Crescenta Women’s Club, Summer Wishes 2007, Eulogy For Night
• 8/5/2017 - Sunland-Tujunga Branch Library, Summer Reading Culmination Party, Library Magic
• 8/26/2017-  McGroarty Arts Center, 2nd Annual Burgers, Beer & Band Night, BBB Poem
• 8/27/2017 -  Bolton Hall Museum, Village Poets Monthly Reading Series, Co-Feature with Lois P. Jones
• 9/13/2017 - The Odyssey Restaurant, Sylmar Woman’s Club General Club Meeting
• 9/24/2017 - McGroarty Arts Center, event honoring volunteers and staff who fought La Tuna Fire, McGroarty Magic II
• 10/21/2017 - McGroarty Arts Center, Sunland-Tujunga Open Studios, 3 sessions of open readings
• 10/22/2017 - The Backdoor Bakery, event featuring Joe DeCenzo and friends 10/23/2017 Verdugo Hills YMCA, Chili Cook-Off, poem “Chili”
• 10/25/2017 - NoHo Arts District, Lit Crawl L.A., participated in First Annual Poet Laureate parade
• 12/19/2017 - McGroarty Arts Center, Hanukkah In the Foothills, Hanukkah Poem
• Jan. 2018 - Two poems selected for publication by California State Poetry Society’s California Quarterly 44 No. 1
• Feb. 2018 - One poem selected for publication in The Altadena Poetry Anthology, 2018
• March 3, 2018 - Sunland-Tujunga Branch Library, Dr. Seuss’s 114th Birthday Party

Photo by Pam Shea

Spring, 2018

Springtime comes tiptoeing in

Speaking of quiet places

Revealing sacred spaces

And peace flows like a river

Tranquility is seeping

Into the landscape and blood

Emotional tides rise and flood

Releasing, seeking the shore

Beauty abounds and astounds

Birds serenade the morning

Flowers burst in bright colors

The earth awakens in bounty

Whispers of hope float freely

Discerning ears are ringing

There is majestic singing

Love rises from the garden

(c) Pamela Shea

In costume with granddaughter, for Dr. Seuss Reading at Sunland Tujunga Library, March 2017.

In Honor of Dr. Seuss

3/3/2018, on the Occasion of His 114^th Birthday

“My name is Pamela Ann

You can call me Pam, you can call me Ann”

So my life as a poet began

I love poetry, that’s who I am

Words have always filled my mind

I write of nature and being kind

Poems do not always have to rhyme

All kinds of writing are very fine

You can write when you are glad

You can write when you are sad

You can write when you are mad

Just keep on writing on your pad

Poems can tell the story of your life

Both times that are good and times of strife

So pick up something and write, write, write

It will make your spirit soar like a kite

Dr. Seuss Day the Paige Way

3/2/16 ~ by Paige Gleason & Pamela Shea

I jump, jump, jump on the trampoline

    In my nightgown

I wear my nightgown the whole day long

    All around town

I blow BIG BUBBLES and stomp them flat

    On the backyard ground

I celebrate Dr. Seuss Day with Grandma

    She is such a clown!

Reading at Bolton Hall Museum, photo by Mary Torregrosa

POETS LAUREATE GATHERING WITH DANA GIOIA, OCTOBER 6, 2018

All current Poets Laureate from California are invited by CA Poet Laureate Dana Gioia to participate in a statewide gathering of all current city and county poet laureates, hosted by the California Arts Council. The event will take place at the McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga on Saturday, October 6, 2018.

The organizers are planning a day of workshops, panels, readings, and presentations to explore and celebrate the important cultural role poet laureates play in their communities. Every laureate will have a chance to read his or her poetry as well as share ideas with other laureates and the public. The McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga (a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley side of Los Angeles) is the former home of John McGroarty, who served as California’s third poet laureate from 1933 to 1944. Today the beautiful hillside home houses a vibrant community arts center.

All poets who currently hold a civic laureate office (for a city, county, or region) are invited to participate in the morning workshop. Past poets laureate are invited to the afternoon session. The daylong event, including meals, will be free to participants. This event is co-sponsored by the California Arts Council and the McGroarty Arts Center. Robin Coste Lewis, the poet laureate of Los Angeles, will also help host the day’s event.

Photo by Maja Trochimczyk

VILLAGE POETS NEWS

CONGRATULATIONS TO DOROTHY SKILES! 

For Pushcart Prize Nomination by the Altandena Poetry Review!

Thelma T. Reina and Susan Rogers who both were featured at Bolton Hall Museum 

in the past are also nominated. The presentation of their poetry is on April 16, 2018.

MAJA TROCHIMCZYK EDITED THE CALIFORNIA QUARTERLY 44/1

Photo by Maja Trochimczyk

This volume features almost 60 poets, including Village Poets Pam Shea and Marlene Hitt, and poets who featured at Bolton Hall Museum in the past: Kathabela Wilson, Susan Rogers, Margaret Saine, Deborah P. Kolodji and William Scott Galasso.  Copies of the CQ may be obtained by ordering online at CaliforniaStatePoetrySociety.org , or by mailing a request for a specific​ issue together with a check 

for $10.00 per copy. Do not forget to name the specific issue you are requesting (this one is 44/1) and submit your order to:  CSPS VP/Membership 2560 Calabria Ct, Dublin, CA 94568.

Every poet is invited to join the CSP Society, online or by mail. First fill out the form on the website, then print it and send with payments by mail to:

CSPS Vice President - Membership, 2560 Calabria Court, Dublin, California  94568

And Best Wishes for the Spring to Everyone!