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      You are here: Home / Arts / Poetry in Essex

      Poetry in Essex

      July 11, 2012 By Geo Davis Leave a Comment

      Poetry in Essex, July 10 at the Adirondack Art Association (clockwise from top left: Colleen Torrans, Judith Moore, Donna Joerg, Bill Poppino)
      Poetry in Essex, July 10 at the Adirondack Art Association (clockwise from top left: Colleen Torrans, Judith Moore, Donna Joerg, Bill Poppino)

      Is there life in Essex, NY after the July 4th holidays? Absolutely. And poetry too!

      On Tuesday night I witnessed plenty of both at the Adirondack Art Association. A month after the first Essex poetry reading, the old firehouse in downtown Essex once again summoned Champlain Valley poets and poetry aficionados for a celebration of words, rhythms and literary adventure.

      Poignant Poetry in Essex

      Although event organizer Jeff Moredock was absent, Steven Krolak, a writer and the Executive Director of the Adirondack Art Association swept into the breach, orchestrating an often poignant, always entertaining evening. Krolak read a moving tribute to his wife’s victorious battle with cancer and then plunged into a poem which showcased the idiosyncrasies of Las Vegas.

      A seethe of gamblers winos whores
      Scrawny old gals in bathrobes and fuzzy mules
      Clutch cottage-cheese tubs
      Full of nickels
      Paunchy sansabelt wankers
      Chomp Havanas
      Pastured Kansans
      Huff down two-buck buffets
      In doorways the women
      They lean and wait
      Or simply try to fall
      No further
      ~ Steven Krolak, “The Onegin Of Vegas“

      Krolak’s glimpse into the less-than-bucolic world beyond Essex was revisited by several writers focusing on cultural, political and even meteorological malaise. In “Wave Length” Donna Joerg offered a rhythmic reflection on 21st century digital natives “digitally born… [who believe] they’ve evolved genetically / Beyond the dial tone”. The sardonic tone of the poem was balanced by her melodious delivery and clever quips to ensure levity:

      … thumb-punching away
      Into the virtual ether
      Where a net might catch no fish

      … deficits of attention to the point of disorder

      … remember
      this will not be had on a blackberry
      unless you eat it

      ~ Donna Joerg, “Wave Length”

      Joerg’s poetry, like her singing and guitar playing, is an invitation to loosen up and smile and abandon whatever distractions are vying for your attention. Like a familiar storyteller Joerg slows your pulse and pulls you in with her lilting, leisurely cadence.

      Poetic Marital Bliss

      Two couples, Bonnie and Al Haberle and Kathy and Bill Poppino reminded the audience that one of the keys to a happy marriage is shared version. All four writers shared poems. Bonnie Haberle read a bittersweet eulogy for a close friend which cleverly knit a blue sweater into memories of a friendship. Following the reading Krolak described Kathy Poppino’s poetry as “dense, clever, rhythmic and well crafted.” A flattering accolade from a skilled wordsmith!

      Fountains of Youth

      Two young poets, ten year old Colleen Torrans and Willsboro 8th grader Laura Klein, shifted the chronological and emotional demographic, the latter appearing for her second Essex poetry reading. Klein’s poise and linguistic maturity once again impressed the audience, and Torrans’ energetic poems about dragons and unicorns provoked smiles all around, trumped only by her extemporaneous recitation of a limerick that she had written and memorized.

      Rural North Country Poetry in Essex

      Rick Bessette, a Shelburne, Vermont farmer who discovered his poetic calling much after his agricultural vocation read several poems from A Vermonter’s Heritage: Listening to the Trees including the title poem which opens with this evocative invitation to contemplate the cycles of nature.

      I came to listen carefully
      To what the old trees would say,
      Knowing that they had wintered well
      And new leaves were on the way.
      ~ Rick Bessette, “Listening to the Trees“

      Bessette’s poems capture Vermont’s rural majesty in rhyming quatrains, a style that he inherited from his uncle, Joe Thomas.

      Judith Moore and Mary Beal, both veterans of the June poetry reading, shared insightful poetry at least partly inspired by the tendency for Adirondack farms to be replaced by second homes. Let us hope that one silver lining of a real (or perceived) shift from tradition and agriculture to vacationing and leisure will continue to inspire such powerful artistic artifacts!

      Photos from June 2012 Poetry in Essex

      Here are a few fuzzy photographs shot on my mobile phone before the battery succumbed to the eloquent poetry and went on strike to ruminate in literary bliss…

      If you took photos and wish to include them in this gallery, please contact me. Thanks!

      [flagallery gid=5 name=Gallery]
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      Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: A Vermonter’s Heritage, Adirondack Art Association, Al Haberle, Bill Poppino, Bonnie Haberle, Colleen Torrans, Donna Joerg, Jeff Moredock, Judith Moore, Kathy Poppino, Laura Klein, Listening to the Trees, Mary Beal, Poetry, Poetry Open Mic, Poetry slam, Rick Bessette, Steven Krolak

      About Geo Davis

      Geo Davis (aka virtualDavis) is a writer, storyteller and unabashed flâneur. He taught and coached at Santa Fe Preparatory School and The American School of Paris, co-founded Maison Margaux: "Paris à la parisienne" in Faubourg Saint-Germain, and owns Adobe Oasis in Santa Fe, NM with his bride.

      Geo chronicles adventures (and misadventures) of rehabilitating an historic Essex home at Rosslyn Redux: Reawakening a home, a dream and ourselves; blogs about doodling and other esoterica at virtualDavis.com; posts sometimes unnerving, occasionally euphoric, and always pollyanna "midlife mashups" at 40x41.com; waxes nautical at Sailing Errant; and delves into matters of parenting, babylandia, and childfreedom at Why No Kids? He meanders on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Flickr.

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