An Evening of Poetry, June 6, 2013
Poetry.
What an exquisite way to spend an early evening as the weather begins to heat up.
Tonight I’ll be reading some of the greats: Ritsos and Cavafy, maybe some Seferis if there’s time, but I also want to read some poets whose names you might not be familiar with including: Neil Carpathios, Alice Oswald,Veronica Golos, Nick Samaras, Brian Turner and Bill Buschel. What? Wait a minute! That’s me.
Yes, I’ll be reading a poem I penned a few years ago entitled: Sitting by the Fire. I’m doing this to bring attention to the fact that I’ll be reading my
poetry this Saturday, June 8, at 6pm at the Greek-American Writers group hosted by Dean Kostos at The Cornelia Street Cafe located at 29 Cornelia Street, off Bleecker, not far from the Sixth Avenue. I’ll be one of four featured poets; the other three: Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Mary Golias, Gary Whitehead.
But let’s get back to tonight’s program. Some of the poets you may not recognize I’ve read on the air before. Nick Samaras and I have done a number of programs together; and the poems by Neil Carpathios and Veronica Golos were featured on a program I did about the book, Pomegranate Seeds. A wonderful anthology of poems by Greek-American poets edited by Dean Kostos.
For Alice Oswald and Brian Turner this will be the first time I’ve read them on Graffiti…it will not be the last.
If you take the whole Achilles/Agamemnon story out of Homer’s Iliad what are you left with? MEMORIAL by Alice Oswald.
She opens with a column of names that hugs the left margin of the first eight pages of this slim volume. 214 names in all. She then proceeds to tell us, in poetic, sometimes heartbreaking, and oft-times excruciatingly graphic terms, how each of the 214 men (some little more than boys) dies on the battlefield. It is staggering.
For some months now I’ve been trying to find a way to get in touch with her to have her on the program to talk about this exceptional book but so far to no avail.
War is war. Whether we’re talking about Troy, the beaches at Normandy, Iraq or Afghanistan and that’s why I’ve included “Ajal” by Brian
Turner in tonight’s reading. I like his poetry a lot, especially this poem. Much like MEMORIAL it deals beautifully and brutally with war and death.
All of tonight’s music is by Eleni Karaindrou.
PLEASE COME AND JOIN US THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 8, at 6pm.
The Cornelia Street Cafe
(off Bleecker, not far from the Sixth Avenue)
Greek-American Writers Group
Cover of $8 includes one drink.
Featured poets: Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Mary Golias, Gary Whitehead and ME!
Just My Eyes 