Big Night at the Poetry Co-Op Open Mic last night at the Water Witch Tiki Bar. A lot of new folks both reading and in the audience. Sixteen people read, which is a record as long as I've been coming.
Poets in alphabetical order: Alx, Anthony, Ari, Assata, Carri, Claire, Darriea, Eli, Jae, Keshawn, LaLa, Mamie, Trinity, Sam, and Victoria.
Thanks to Darriea for taking the picture again.
Enjoying the warm weather, wearing tropical shirts again, but hedging my bets with warm layers under them.
I'm looking forward to Monday night's Poetry Co-Op Open Mic at Water Witch Tiki Bar. Join us there for poetry, good company, and maybe a drink or two.
We spent this lovely morning on the Wildlife Drive at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. Due to the warm temperatures and nice sun, the alligators and turtles were out basking. We saw about 20 gators, as well as birds such as American coots, common moorhens, blue-winged teal ducks, northern shoveler ducks, little blue heron, great blue heron, great egret, and some folks too fast or distant to identify. It was warm enough to bring some bugs out, but not the sand gnats or skeeters - yet.
This gator was about 10 feet long - not the biggest we saw, but the best picture.
Savannah NWR is a free site just about 9 miles into SC. A slow dusty trip for about 4 miles on the wildlife drive could take you two hours or more, if you pay attention. Take the time, be quiet, wait, watch, and follow the experienced birders.There are wonders out there, and we all need some wonder in our lives.
Beautiful day at Savannah's Forsyth Park. High 70s, enough cloud cover to stay comfortable. A lot of people, a lot of good conversations, taught haiku rules to three people, and sold some books.
Got to know some more vendors - Like Cecilia with her hand-crafted decorative magnets, and her friend "Moral Support."
One of my highlights was when a young boy, maybe 7 or 8, read my sheet explaining how to write haiku, and looked up and said: "You wrote it in haiku!"
Another high point was when a young couple who had bought a book came back and said that they had been reading poems to each other at lunch, and thanked me.
Last night I enjoyed a fine poetry reading at The Book Lady Bookstore. Shane McCrae read several new poems, as well as selections from his latest book, New and Collected Hell (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), a book-length poem.
McCrae read well, but not excessively dramatically, and was honest and responsive in the Q&A. No bullshit.
McCrae is a formalist, preferring meter and rhyme, but primarily meter. His use of iambic pentameter is interesting and stimulating, not just a repeated and boring beat.
I bought and started his new book, and am enjoying it.