March 2011

(host stevenallenmay), Barbara DeCesare, Travis Leith, W F Lantry.

Another great reading. DeCesare traveled down from PA. Travis lives in Sterling, VA and Lantry in Silver Spring, MD. Each brought a different element to the event. Barbara combined her strong reading presence with a "radio play" which included most of the audience - group participation! Got to love that.

Travis recited his polished work with musical accompaniment, albeit digitally mastered. Lantry read in his relaxed stance which is his normal at the Poetry Lab.

The open reading saw a developing crop of new poets working out their own voice and presentation stylings. I read a brand new piece that was "cannibalized" from The Beat Generation by Albert Zugsmith, taken from the screenplay for the movie "The Beat Generation" which was produced by Zugsmith. I was intent on making fun of the pathetic attempt of the author to "get" the Beat language. While reading, Barbara DeCesare pounced on bongo drums which were on the edge of the stage and provided me with some improv percussion at the same time that M. Magnus began to bang metal chairs together, producing an unexpected cacophony. The piece concluded with me tossing the source book across the room. An audience member later retrieved the book and asked to keep it. I had circled the passages in the text that I used for the poem, "girl with no bra chanting weird poetry". All the same, I gave the gentleman the book. I didn't need it any longer.

With 35 people in the audience, the night was a raging success! Hurrah for poetry in Northern VA!!