View From the Roof of the MLK Library
Grace Cavalieri and David Keplinger at the MLK Library. Also: Is this a Poem?
Grace Cavalieri & David Keplinger at MLK
I caught Grace Cavalieri and David Keplinger reading together in DC at the Beltway Cafe at the MLK library last night. They traded-off poems in round-robin fashion to dazzling effect. I have learned much from both these teachers over the years and it was a special treat to see them both together. Kudos to Indran Amirthanayagam and his Beltway crew for hosting this MLK poetry series.
In case you missed it, here is the video up on YouTube.
Is this a Poem?
At the heart of experimental poetry is the pushing of boundaries, always asking the question - Is this a Poem? It is a question that David Keplinger was always asking in his workshops.
How about this. Is this a poem?
I can easily think of something like the staircase at the National Gallery of Art being a poem, the way it recedes into itself in a rhythm of stairs and glass reflecting all the way down and down again.
Okay, now this. It consists of text, but is this a poem?
Justified, from my working manuscript, Screens, is a more or less traditional sonnet where the conflict of the poem is between the lines of the poem itself. Each line stridently standing for it’s method of “Justification.” My poems usually start and end with the elements of the page turning on themselves in some odd way that I hope doesn’t end up turning on me!
For me, most things I encounter have a way of being poems. How about you?
Coming Up
Saturday, December 16, 2023, 1pm to 3pm, Poetry Open Mic, New Deal Cafe (Live) 113 Centerway Greenbelt, MD 20770.
Monday, January 8, 2024, 7:00pm, Café Muse Literary Salon at the Writer’s Center (Live) and online. Featured poets: Grace Cavalieri and Susan Okie.
Let me know in comments if you know of any other local readings and I’ll put them here for future posts.