long time no blog. rest assured, in a busy year of shifting priorities, i've been working on poetry in the background, including a lot of coordinating and organizing for berks bards, reeling in varied styles and voices of poets from the region and out of state to be featured at monthly first thursday events at goggleworks center for the arts and in what we call bard fest (2019 info pending posting!) in springtime. taking on the role of president of berks bards earlier in 2018 is a part of the hiatus from this blog. i had been with berks bards for a few years before this as a promoter and photographer. this volunteering in the community gobbles up a lot of time, but it's incredibly rewarding heart-wise and is a big part of what i believe in for what i know helps our world through language, vocal cords, and on many a page or piece of paper.
berks bards is a small, grassroots poetry-promoting nonprofit which began in 1998, so it turns 21 this year. i don't drink much or often, but we're hosting a party of poem-throwing with our fans to bring their own words in april 2019 as national poetry month at brandywine branch distillery & bistro in elverson. visit our facebook page to stay tuned for more info, or ask us to be added to our email list. we promote our own poetry readings and open mics but also workshops and other poetry-laced events hosted by other organizations and people, too, including when we stumble across local or national calls for submissions.
i'm also on a planning committee at RACC for the eighth berks county poet laureate competition and the fourth berks scholastic poet (high school-aged students) laureate competition. rules are here, and the electronic submission deadline is march 31, 2019.
for now, here is one of my favorite brief poems which i wrote on a chilly-as-a-curse-word winter evening. as i say, onward with poems.
