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“Come,
February, lend thy darkest sky.
There
teach the winter'd muse with clouds to soar;
Come,
February, lift the number high;
Let
the sharp strain like wind thro' alleys roar.”
—Thomas
Chatterton, "February" (excerpt)
IMAGE: 'February
Dawn', B Kathleen Fannin (2019)
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From
the Electronic Inkpot…
Dear
readers;
On
January 25, 2025, seven planets—Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will
align in a rare celestial event. In this
celestial moment, as Jupiter and Saturn dance
their rare alignment, we're reminded that
poetry, like the cosmos, operates in patterns
both ancient and evolving. Just as the planets
trace their cosmic verses across the night sky,
spoken word artists weave their own orbital
patterns through rhythm and voice.
Is
interesting to contemplate the ancient
tradition of celestial imagery in oral poetry,
from Babylonian star catalogs to a continuum of
contemporary slam poetry about black holes and
nebulae.
We
are producing a special program for Monmouth
County Poets entitled ‘Sentinels of the Heart’
that will be performed in February. We’re
looking for 4-5 performance readers and would
love to have you join us for this program
(details below).
Several
other poets, both near and farther, are
performing their works. Both Donald
Illich and Sal Roseo are experienced poets and
recommend attending the programs outlined
below.
Special
shout out to the Long Branch Cultural Arts
Center Open Mic series. Director Maggie
Fisher has created a great space for all poets
to share their work in this unique venue on
Broadway.
Let
us enjoin ourselves as poets maping the
constellations of contemporary verse, charting
new territories where astronomical precision
meets artistic expression. After all, aren't we
all just stardust learning to speak?"
As
always, in peace,
Robert
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Spoken Word Performance
“Sentinels of the Heart”
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Open call for performance readers for our next
spoken word event, ‘Sentinels of the Heart’ (Four Centuries of Love
Sonnets)!
Join us as spoken word performance readers for a
captivating evening of spoken word poetry celebrating the enduring
power of love. This special event will feature a diverse collection
of love sonnets from renowned poets spanning centuries, from
Shakespeare to contemporary voices. Prepare to be moved, inspired,
and entertained as talented performers bring these timeless works
of literature to life. Discover the beauty and complexity of love
through the words of some of the greatest poets of all time. Don't
miss this unique opportunity to experience the magic of love
sonnets through the spoken word. Light refreshments will be served.
WHERE: Thompson Park Visitor Center in the
Beech Room WHEN: Wednesday, February 12, 2025, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.
Readthrough Schedule:
February 8, 2025, from 9:00 am to 10:30 am at
Thompson Park Visitor Center
For interested performance readers, libretto can be
found here. If interested in this production please email RobertReads@outlook.com with your
preferred selections.
Libretto can be obtained by clicking
here.
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Peter
Dabbene
is a longtime Hamilton, New Jersey resident
whose poetry and stories have been published in
dozens of print and online literary journals.
He has published the poetry/photo collections “The
Lotus Eater (and Other Poems)”
and “Optimism,“ the graphic novels Ark, Robin
Hood, and George Washington: Father of a
Nation, the story collections Prime Movements
and Glossolalia, and a novel, Mister Dreyfus'
Demons. Other recent works include the Spamming
the Spammers trilogy, three collections of
exchanges with e-mail spammers, and Complex
Simplicity, a collection of essays. His website
is www.peterdabbene.com.
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Performance Reading: Sal Roseo
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Subscriber and Monmouth County Poet Sal Roseo
provided a performance reading of his poetry on Tuesday,
January 14, 2025, at Mr. Pi’s in Highland Park for the Corinne
Gliozzi reading series program.
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New Workshop at the Morristown Library. To register
email info@artsbythepeople.org with “The Link: Grief As Inspiration For Creative
Writing” in the subject line.
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The Mad Art Supper Club returns on February 23, 2025, from 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm!
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Being
Poetically Punctional
The humble marks that pepper our verses carry
histories as rich as the words they accompany. Consider Emily
Dickinson's famous dashes — those horizontal strokes that editors
sanitized into conventional punctuation until 1981. These marks
weren't mere grammatical choices but visual embodiments of her
thought process, creating psychological pauses that modern readers
can finally experience as she intended.
We write poetry in an era far removed from medieval
manuscripts, where readers navigated verse without punctuation's
guidance. Today's poets might find such texts daunting, yet they
remind us that the relationship between breath, meaning, and visual
markers has evolved dramatically through centuries of literary
tradition.
The Renaissance brought us the semicolon, poetry's
"middle pause," a sophisticated tool for creating nuanced
rhythmic structures. William Blake later transformed punctuation
into mystical symbols within his illuminated manuscripts, while
Walt Whitman obsessively revised punctuation between editions of
"Leaves of Grass," each change altering the breath
patterns of his epic work.
E.E. Cummings revolutionized typography as meaning,
making punctuation dance across the page in ways that would have
bewildered Renaissance poets. Gerard Manley Hopkins went further,
developing a personal system of accent marks to guide readers
through his complex sprung rhythm. Even the now-forgotten pilcrow
(¶) once marked verse beginnings before line breaks became our
standard.
Contemporary concrete poets have inherited this rich
tradition, using punctuation marks as visual building blocks.
Meanwhile, Japanese haiku reminds us that punctuation isn't
universal — its "cutting words" (kireji) create breaks
through language rather than symbols.
As we craft our own verses, each comma, period, or
dash carries this weighted history. These marks aren't merely
grammatical tools but part of poetry's visual music, its breath,
its silence, and its song. They're our inheritance from centuries
of poets who understood that how words pause matters as much as how
they flow.
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Kevin Young and Poets of The New Yorker: A Century of Poetry
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Join award-winning poet and New Yorker poetry editor
Kevin Young for a reading honoring a century of poetry in The New
Yorker — and the release of a monumental new anthology, edited by
Young — featuring some of the most iconic poetic voices in America.
From Dorothy Parker to Derek Walcott, Sylvia Plath
to Sandra Cisneros, John Ashbery to Amanda Gorman, The New Yorker
is both a gateway into and a treasure trove of English-language
poetry. A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker: 1925-2025 gathers
one hundred years of the most influential, entertaining, and
taste-making verse ever published in the magazine, including by
many poets who have graced the stage of 92NY — Seamus Heaney,
Louise Glück, Langston Hughes, Tracy K. Smith, Mark Strand,
Terrance Hayes, Billy Collins, Ada Limón and dozens of others.
In a special celebratory reading, hear Young and a
group of some of today’s premier poets reading from the anthology,
both classic selections and their own work — a tribute to the
stunning poetic range of the magazine’s history and the resounding
power of poetry itself.
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Join ABC partner Project Write Now on
February 11, 2025, at 7:00 pm for a fun evening of storytelling,
conversation, and community! Using creative prompts, we generate
new writing and then share our work. (Outside pieces are welcome
too, but they must be your own work, 500 words or less, and align
with PWN’s mission to provide a supportive environment.) If you
would like to read, please email info@projectwritenow.org to be put on the readers list. Come to write, read,
or listen! Your story matters, and we want to hear it!
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Monmouth County Poets - 2025 Schedule
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Emotional or humorous, storytelling or intense,
poetry can evoke a variety of thoughts and emotions. Explore or
recite literary works during a time of alliteration, rhythm and
verse.
All are welcome to read your work aloud or read work
from your favorite poet(s).
Themes are suggested and original poems are
encouraged. Poems must be appropriate for a family-oriented
audience. Preregistration is recommended for readers, though
drop-ins are welcome as time permits. FREE!
Next session is Sunday, March 23, 2025, from 3:00 pm - 4:30
pm at the Thompson Park Theater Barn. Contact RacheI Cohen to be
added to the list of readers at (732) 542-1642, ext. 29 or via rachel.cohen@monmouthcountyparks.com.
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“A Soul
Awakens” Notecards
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Beautiful notecards featuring the inspiring poem
"A Soul Awakens." Perfect for expressing heartfelt
messages as well as a gift to friends.
Let your words come alive on these exquisite
notecards. Adorned with the poignant poem "A Soul Awakens," each card is a blank canvas for your thoughts and
feelings. Share inspiration with every note.
Ignite your correspondence with our "A Soul
Awakens" notecards. This set of ten beautifully designed
cards, featuring a thought-provoking poem, is the perfect way to
add a touch of poetry to your everyday life. Order yours today!
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Previous Editions of Spoken Word Poetry
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