A Memorable Reading

	June 1999

D.

A Memorable Reading
by Gregg J. Donaldson
On March 21, 1999, at the Riverdale Bookstore in Prince George's County yours truly went to my first poetry reading where I participated and this is what happened:

A Sunday Poetry Reading
I had dream, or was it reality?
In a place I've never been,
The Riverdale Bookstore - to be exact,
About to go before a group of fellow Poets.
Plus one Friend - Louise,
Strangers? Yes, nice, friendly folk,
But strangers - Nevertheless,
Like Poe, Lenore, the Raven and Nevermore.

My voice strong, yet slightly wavering,
Making it through, the first stanza of a two stanza poem,
Called "The Actor,"
While my heart does a million jumping-jacks,
No dream, harsh reality,

I start my second verse,
Then I hear it - is this a curse?
In the distance at first,
That hollow tin thistle,
Of a train's whistle cry,
Barreling down its tracks!
Poe must be laughing at the dramatic irony.

My mind wonders,
Should I stop?
Pause -
Then start again?
Breaking up the flow and rhythm,
No, I take Poe's challenge; standing my ground
And continue,
Speaking above the shrill sound,
Like any actor should,

My fellow poets and I were there to celebrate a brand new publication called, "Spiraeas: a journal of literature and art." Spiraeas is the name of a genus of flowers that grow in many colors.
The journal was the brainchild of Annette Gonzales, who is a Graduate student at the University of Baltimore, getting her Masters in Creative Writing and Publication Design.
She told TT: I was taking a class called "Literary Publications" we had to create the idea for a small-press publication, design it, create a marketing plan for it, and finally put it all together as though it were a real publication, (the publication did not have to actually go into production).
I had two ideas for what I was going to do: I was either going to publish a book of poetry or I was going to create a literary journal. The literary journal won out, mainly because I decided I wanted not only to give a voice to those poets in the community who were beginners, but also to give something back to a community that had embraced and accepted me." She is originally from New Mexico. She met the other editors, Dan Plattner and Bruce Taylor at various readings and coffeehouses. To get the project off the ground, Dan and I began distributing call for submissions flyers all over town, but concentrating on P.G. County. We distributed flyers at coffee houses, at various readings, and mailed them to all of the libraries in P.G. County. The response was wonderful! We even received submissions from California, Oregon, and Oklahoma!"
Through various friends and colleagues she got the journal printed and published in January. The editors hope to publish the journal bi-annually. Another call for poems, stories and artwork will go out later this Spring or Summer.
Most of the poets 24 in all, heard about the journal through word of mouth other poet groups, coffeehouses and the Internet, (which is where I heard about it in a roundabout way, through an E-mail from Florida).
TT asked Ms. Gonzales, how she composes her poems? She answered, "I do them in longhand first then the computer."
For more information, write: SPIRAEAS, PO Box 689, Riverdale, MD 20738-0689. Or http://nova.umuc.edu/~agonzale/ The book can be purchased for $5.00 at: The Riverdale Book Shop (4701 Queensbury Rd., Riverdale, MD. Phone: 301-277.8141 and other bookstores.

Home

Newsletter

Calendar

Index

Contact