Category: Poetry Festival

CARTLOADS – Poetry Reading by Sue Barnard

Performed by actor Peter-Mark Raphael

Get to know the writer:

What is the theme of your poem?

It’s a light-hearted parody of a very well-known poem: Cargoes by John Masefield. I updated the topic for a modern-day readership.

What motivated you to write this poem?

The idea just came to me out of the blue when I was pushing a shopping cart around a supermarket. By the time I reached the checkout I’d worked out the poem’s basic structure and thought of some of the lines. I had to keep repeating them over and over to myself until I got home and could write them down!

How long have you been writing poetry?

I’ve dabbled with it for most of my life, but it’s only during the past few years that I’ve started taking my work more seriously.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Oh gosh, there are so many. But if I had to choose just one, I think it would have to be William Shakespeare. He was a great and prolific writer, and has influenced much of my own work, including two of my novels (see below). I’d love to ask him what he did during the seven years of his life which are unaccounted for, between leaving Stratford-upon-Avon and arriving in London. And I’d also find out once and for all if he spoke with a regional accent!

What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?

It felt like a great opportunity, for which I am most grateful. Thank you.

Do you write other works? Scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?

I’ve written a few short stories which have been published in anthologies, and I’ve also written four novels which are published by Crooked Cat Books. Two of these (The Ghostly Father and The Unkindest Cut of All) are based on works by Shakespeare (respectively Romeo & Juliet and Julius Caesar). The other two are Nice Girls Don’t (a romantic intrigue based on a search for family secrets) and Never on Saturday (a time-slip romance novella based on an old French legend). I currently have two other projects on the go, but they are still in the early stages.

I also do editing work for other writers.

What is your passion in life?

Life itself. It should be lived to the full. Every moment is precious, and will never come again.

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson

Camera Operator: Mary Cox

Watch the July 2017 Poetry Readings

Performed by Val Cole

Poetry Reading: ME, by Jim Durkey

Poetry Reading: Time Passing So Quickly, by Kayla Krilove

Poetry Reading: Journey of the Butterfly by Denise Stephani

Poetry Reading: eVu TPS, by Lawrence Klein

Poetry Reading: Dreams… by Buffy Sammons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poetry Reading: Dreams… by Buffy Sammons

Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the winning poet:

What is the theme of your poem?

Being ill and bedridden for so long, these are the dreams that I have and they get me away from my reality. It’s my bucket list and really it’s my way out sometimes.

What motivated you to write this poem?

To give others that are in similar situations reasons to find Solutions or places to dream about and that they sometimes do come true. I want people to know that they’re not alone and there are ways to take your mind elsewhere sometimes.

How long have you been writing poetry?

I actually just recently found out that I was writing poems in 1st grade. I’m not saying that they were good poems, but they did rhyme so I guess prose was always a love of mine.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

All of my family and loved ones lost.

What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?

I am a disabled bedridden nurse and I am just an amateur poet prose just struck me and gave me a reason to get up each day.

Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?

I actually write a lot because it calms my mind and helps me to relax because I don’t sleep much and it eases my pain along with painting. Most of my poems come in the middle of the night.

What is your passion in life?

As someone who took care of and watched her family and friends pass away I am a 45 year old that never knew how to slow down and smell the roses I just want to try to be kind to one another and pay it forward to others in similar situations I’m trying to set up a foundation because art and any form really saved my life and gave me a reason to wake up and try each morning and as long as God blesses me to give me those daily breaths I will continue to use them to try to do something for others and hopefully get better in the process.

Poetry Reading: eVu TPS, by Lawrence Klein

Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the winning poet:

What is the theme of your poem?

Self-Regulation using Biofeedback

What motivated you to write this poem?

The eVu-TPS plugs you into your Smart Phone for Self-Control

How long have you been writing poetry?

Since 1972 – for 45 years

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

Shakespeare

What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?

To give it broader exposure. All my poetry could be used as Songs, and eVu-TPS is being put to music now.

Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?

In 1974 I co-Authored Mind Over Muscle – Biofeedback Peak Performance Training System with Major Nory Laderoute, former Athletic Director of the Canadian Armed Forces Combat Training Centre in Gagetown N.B.

· I am in the process of writing the History of Sport Psychology / Sport Psychophysiology

· I wrote a Children’s book but have been too busy to publish it.

What is your passion in life?

Skiing and Sport Psychology – I’m 52 years a Ski Coach and Instructor, and Manufacturing Medical Instrumentation for 43 years. My Family, 2 daughters and wife.

Poetry Reading: Time Passing So Quickly, by Kayla Krilove

Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the winning poet:

What is the theme of your poem?

The theme of this poem is Coming of Age. It includes aspects of childhood, and the mental and physical acceptance of becoming an adult.

What motivated you to write this poem?

I wrote this poem the last week of high school. I was inspired because I had attended the same school for thirteen years of my life and was now moving into a world very unknown to me, and very outside my social and academic bubble. I wanted to write a piece that many other young adults could relate to, and I read it in front of my entire school on the last day.

How long have you been writing poetry?

I have always been writing, ever since six or seven years old. I’ve been making movies and writing silly poems all my childhood but it wasn’t until Sophomore and Junior years of high school that I became more serious about it. I took a Creative Writing course that opened up a whole new level of poetry skills for me. Since then, I have been writing poetry for my own pleasure.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

I would have dinner with Sylvia Plath!

What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?

I see my poem relating to many people and would love for it to reach many more through this poetry submission.

Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?

I write short stories, scripts, and poems.

What is your passion in life?

My passion is to give my best to all aspects of my life. I have multiple passions in my life, writing being one of them. Yet, I would say my ability to give my best version and attention to each one is most important to me.

Poetry Reading: ME, by Jim Durkey

Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the winning poet:

What is the theme of your poem?

— Honor the song in your heart.

What motivated you to write this poem?

— My granddaughter had a learning disability and was shunned by her classmates.

How long have you been writing poetry?

— Since high school.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

— My mother.

What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?

— Perhaps someone listening to the poem may know of a young person who could benefit from reading it.

Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?

— Screenplays and short stories.

What is your passion in life?

— To be able to spend more time writing.

Poetry: Brewstorm by Anmol Chitransh

Genre – heart break, heart ache, relationship, hurt.

Everyday there is a desire
When will my heart conspire
Against my belief
That love is not a relief

My medulla swore
To fill me with hate
To the core
Just for my sake

Heart is shattered enough
Cannot break me more
I will break down myself
Just embrace my core

Dont come so close
This soul is rusty and old
Not shallow and bold
Still naive and amateur

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Poetry: THE LONE WOLF by Sebastian Arenas

 Genre: dark/sad/pain/love

 Hungry and alone the lone wolf hides.
His love fled as she lied even as he tried to be at her sides.
Wounded he licks away the blood,
Now the dark surrounds him as he sinks in the mud.

Pure tenacity allows him to survive.
Pure anger fuels his need to stay alive.
Purity of mind has now lost its shine.
Purity of heart no longer resides in his bloodline.

The cold gnaws at his bones,
Deep inside the void, pain wants to be known.
Unrelenting agony fills his howls.
Unrequited love manifests in his growls.

He lets it all out to the moon,
The only thing that sympathizes with his tune.
The lone wolf is always meant to die,
Yet this lone wolf is meant to defy.

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Poetry: LIVE TO GIVE by Jacqueline Miller-Audeh

Genre: Loss

 Waiting seemed to be the norm
They never thought how it made her feel scorned

Many times she did not understand
So all she did was take a stand

She would stand no matter what for what her heart felt was right.
After all everyone knew she would never have enough to really take flight.
But she could fight till the end
That is how time taught her spend

Some wait a little while live the life of dreams.
She waited and still waits to have a life free from there seems

She wondered if it would be ever happen
You know the basic things that make a life.
The things that she could only admire and know would never be in her life.

Funny how they never got enough
Enough of trying to teach her tough.

Tough was not her lesson.
She had and learned enough.

No one ever thought about love or compassion.

Those she knew too well
But, they too did not stay too well
Only her heart would swell

Still on she waited….
I hope she gets a little resemblance of life.

For living is not to be a strife.
She need a life to live.
Not a life to give.

 

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Poetry: Otherness by Shirley Jones-Luke

 after Alex Dimitrov

We’re on the moon. Years ago, I knew I couldn’t
save anyone. Despite that news, I made sure that
I tried to save anyone thereafter. But it’s easier to say
it than to do it. The moon doesn’t love you. Without
anyone else, I am just a room devoid of life. It is almost
impossible to exist without deception. Do you love me?

I must tell you that I’ve failed at loving you. You wanted a
deep, passionate love from me, but I could not give it. I know
that people need to be loved. But right now, I see only hate. I hear
only hate. I feel hate growing in my heart. My country is confusing me.

Our money is not infinite like the oceans. But even oceans lose their currents. Water runs dry.
Banks fail. Our money is better off under a mattress. Besides, we don’t sleep in the same bed
anyone. We haven’t in years. I don’t miss the warmth of your body. It went cold when my heart
did.

We must refuse evil. We must not abandon our hearts. We must end the worst of life, the
debased, racists, religious terrorists and the elite. They exist because we allowed them to. They
exist without love. Their love is warped. But we aren’t pure either. There is still coal inside us
diamonds.

I wish this otherness would end. But there seems to be no ending. Our love struggles onward,
life support, breathing tube, ineffective medicines. Oceans are dying. The rich continue to get

richer. The poor labor with only love to sustain them. What will sustain us? Something beyond
this otherness.

 

BIO:  Shirley Jones-Luke is a poet and a writer from Boston, MA. Ms. Luke has an MFA from Emerson College. She was a 2016 Watering Hole Poetry Fellow. Her work was shortlisted in poetry by Adelaide Magazine.  Shirley’s poems have been published by Adelaide, BlazeVOX, Deluge, ENUF and Fire Poetry.

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