Voices for the Solstice

Monsoon Voices finished a terrific year of literary sharing and celebration on December 19th at Unlimited Coffee. If you haven’t gone by Unlimited, either for a reading, a drink, or a gelato, you should know that the building began life as a pizza hut. Red brick walls and large windows surround the once-dining room. Down the center of the room, a table worthy of a CEO’s boardroom runs north to south; performers stand at the north end, with Glendale Avenue and neon window signs behind them. At the south end of the room the coffee/gelato magic happens.
On Friday night the returning readers all seemed to pull up chairs at the big table. There were at least five of us, not counting our reader-hosts, Traci and Patrick. The room was surprisingly filled for the last Friday before Christmas. I sort of thought we’d be reading only to each other. Maybe people found it more satisfying to be in a full reading than an empty department store. Maybe word has gotten out that Monsoon Voices is a great time.
I was lucky enough to be invited to read and it was a great way to spend part of the winter solstice. I intended to riff on the solstice before reading, but on Friday I ran through the piece one more time before the show and realized that it was written off an assignment in a class this fall. I decided to mention how beneficial I find being in class: the motivation, the inspiration. The deadlines. So I talked about that, then read “Red Silk iPod,” which made people laugh in many of the right places. I finished with “Dieting at Christmas,” one of those ditzy poems that people (with the exception of magazine editors) always seem to like. But I was the last reader, and before me, there were treasures:
Steven Lufkin – guitars and vocals – This 15 year old marvel pleased the crowd with several well-crafted songs of his own creation. We got the feeling that his talent would develop beautifully in the fullness of time. Then he played “Hey Joe” from Jimi Hendrix. He mastered “Hey Joe.” The guitar that had only supported his words earlier now blasted us, slaughtered us, enthralled us. I can’t wait to see this kid smack the world in the eye.
Rosemarie Dombrowski – Editor of ‘merge’ magazine – this terrific poet treated us to two short personal essays: “Flour, sugar, stir, repeat,” and “Converse.” Both were polished, funny, memorable. I hope poetry can hang on to her, but fear that prose might win.
bakeem lloyd – poetry – this is the first time I’ve met bakeem but I know it won’t be the last – he read two long poems: ‘Jigsaw Puzzle in Reverse,’ and ‘The Mating Habits of Binary Stars.’ bakeem seemed shy, quiet; his poetry is powerful and deep. He reads beautifully. I think we’ll all hear more about him.
Pascal Marco – longtime newspaper man and new essayist – read us ‘Heliotrope,’ the story of meeting his wife of thirty years at the age of seventeen. Pascal brings us the humor and joy of his life. We’re lucky.
Jessica Standifird – introduced as ‘a poet heavily into the local scene’ which she promptly told us might be true, but she feels “not nearly as accomplished as that might seem to imply.” All of us who strive to read in public can empathize, but she’s wrong in her own case: this poet has got it on. She read us several excellent pieces, and I hope the print outlets are picking up on them.
Sarah Moore – young happy college student – this bright light has a lot to share. Like so many good writers, she took a small moment--losing her keys in a forest—and spun it into a story that threw light on the kindness and wonder of the world; and did it all while making us laugh.
Shawnte Orion – another regular on the local scene, this one with a loyal fan base, several of whom were there to cheer him on. If they hadn’t come, well, no worries; the rest of us made enough noise to cover it. He gave us a sermon on the creation of Phoenix by the god L.A. Shawnte has a good time with his writing, and happily, so do the rest of us.
Anyway, if you weren’t there in 2008, I hope you’ll be inspired to come listen in 2009. Monsoon Voices is a great time. Treat yourself to it.

Red Silk iPod

Wow, the fall semester's almost over. I've been in a couple of classes and always feel said when good classes end. These classes have been very compelling and motivated a lot a writing on my part, and some of it might even be good.
I'll be test-driving one essay, 'The Red Silk iPod' at Monsoon Voices on Friday, December 19th. If you'd like to come(and we'd love to see you) a link for information/directions is on the left. I wrote this piece as part of an assignment, but it's been spruced up and it makes me smile, so I hope it will make others smile as well. I'm going to offer up a poem, too, called 'Dieting at Christmas.' I am dieting this Christmas, and much more seriously than I was when I wrote this piece. If all goes well this week, I'll have bookmarks of this poem to share. I hope you come Friday night so I can give you one!