Performed by Val Cole & Laura Kyswaty
Poetry Reading: Morning by, Vihang A Naik
Poetry Reading: Isadore Greely’s Place, by DE Navarro
Poetry Reading: Blue Remembered Hills by Cas Greenfield
Tag: poetry reading
Read Poetry: Once a Child, by Dennis Toth
Once a child
And once a girl,
Innocence still made
Its claim.
To dream
Like a child,
Like an angel,
Like a fawn.
To see the clouds
And feel the rain.
Each memory is
Like a precious fragment
Of fallen, gilded gold.
You would spread them
As little tokens
Across a fanciful map.
Each marked a place
To dream of,
Each mark a wish,
Each spot a hope.
Young you were
And never young again.
A brief reveille
Before the autumn
Before the chill.
A brief repast
Before the grace.
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Read Poetry: The Painter, by Theresa Pio
Birth – 3 years old
Welcome darling boy, a body is born
Made to love, made from thorns,
A blank canvas, a rainbow glows
A father’s love, cold as snow
Masked in your light
As your soul takes flight
Paint your life, paint your dreams
Paint the rainbow colour scheme
Speak darling boy, the world still ages
Silence speaks, silence rages
Your Crayons of love express the talking
Ignore the eyes of constant balking
Let it beam through your hands
Judging eyes don’t understand
Draw it yellow, draw it blue
Draw whatever in your heart feels true
4-8 years old
Hush darling boy, the world still spins
Listen to your voice within
Mask your love with colourful poise
Let it speak volumes to drown out the noise
Hold your brush, canvas high
Paint away, let colours fly
Worry not your father’s hate
Soon it will dissipate
Hush darling boy, all is well in this world
Mamas tears, are made of pearls
Three hearts break on this night,
One is strong enough to fight
Lions roar, the colour grey
Please forgive me, that I pray
Some day you will come to see
What it was, that I could not be
9-12 years old
WHAT IS IT BOY? The world still spins yet mine does not
Your mother left us here to rot
Soul less lives reside right here
Might as well, give in to fear
Hell breathes fire, this life that we live
I have nothing in me, nothing to give
Paint it black, Paint it red
Paint it for the day of the dead
WHAT IS IT BOY? My world is full of whisky and wine
How about you pass me another bottle of time?
This world is full of anger and hurt
We all end up just like dust and dirt
Brace yourself, this wine commands
I smite you with my own bare hands
Feel my wrath, feel my roar
From here on in, you’ll no longer soar.
13-15 years old
What’s your name boy? Where’s your mother boy?
This game of life is not a ploy
Your words unspoken, puzzles us
Your eyes misplacing in our trust
Your canvas baring abstract lines
Of faces we cannot define
Your Fathers bones will be laid to rest
As morning leaves, and the sunrise sets
What’s your name boy? There’s nothing to fear
Life is waiting, flush out those tears
Silence speaks a thousand words
Take your time, you will be heard
This world is full of sinners and saints
If you cannot speak, I leave you these paints
Express your heart through your art
Live your life and play your part
16-19 years old
Can you see me boy? Your eyes are hazy
Can you walk in a line? Your heart is racy
How much more can this climb?
The next step up is doing time
Your canvas blank, your palette clean
Blood stained brush dripping morphine
I’m warning you, paint it through
Or you’ll end up in a jail queue![]()
Can you see me boy? How many fingers am I holding?
Your skin and bones slowly eroding
Veins of death seeping through,
Your face and lips, now shaded blue
You live your life through this needle
Fight it now, fight this evil
Pray to God to keep your soul
One last chance to keep you whole.
19-21 years old
Again dear boy, the things in your mind
Are not meant to be bind
Flow with your canvas, focus with your brush
Paint your pain this life made harsh
Let your blood drip paint
The world that you taint
Let those strokes be the words
Of your extraordinary life unheard
Again young man, this world is aligned ready for the taking
The pain in your eyes drowned out in your making
Do not lose sight
Of my teachings of light
Remember your purpose
Or it will all be worthless
Stay focused and steady
This world is ready
22-25 years old
Good day my love, flowers bloom
We kissed the morning unto noon,
Lover’s hearts intertwined,
Two souls blended in one mind
Paint me a picture of our love
So that we may soar with doves
The world you see, holds no walls
No more of this constant trawl
Good night my love, the moon shines bright,
Stars align conditions ripe
Lovers thrust illuminates,
Graceful hands insatiate
I see your gaze, I see your glare
My womb holds two for all to bare,
Take my hand, here we stand
Bring on life that we planned
26-28 years old
What is it my love? What troubles you?
Take a brush and paint with blue
This life we have is blessed with four
Use your canvas as an oar
Slay your demons if you will
Pray the night will keep you still
Dream those dreams we had before
Unlock those gates unlock that door
What is it my love? What brings you down?
Your troubles haunt, our family drowns
This pain you carry bleeds us dry
I have no more tears to cry
Hanging by a needles thread
Heal it now, before I tread
Pick up your canvas, flow your stream
Or this life you live will be just a dream.
29-31years old
Hello my love, time ticks near
A family love that you smear
Behold the beauty of my might
Careful now, my love may bite
Innocence is watching you
Eight year olds can change their view
Brush with grace, brush with ease
The choice is wisely yours to seize
Goodbye my love, your world is black
Your sadness breathes a family’s lack
Eyes of beauty fear your hands
Draw a line in the sand
My body once a lovers muse
Now a canvas that you bruise
This world still spins your family tree
What once was four is now down three
32-35 years old
Hello Dear Father, why do you sleep?
The world is up, troubled mind in too deep
Remember the story of Dorothy in Kansas?
Can you paint us the rainbow, on this canvas?
Time is fading, awaiting your essence
Exchanging these hours in hopes of your presence
Get up dear father before it’s too late
The world will grow old and will not wait
Hello dear father, Open the blinds
The Doctor is coming to check on your mind
Lucky for you, your daughters aren’t weak
We hid all the pills and crushed them sleek
There’s talk of sending you off to that place
The place where people think they’re in space
GET UP DEAR FATHER, BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE
WREAK HAVOC ON YOUR CANVAS, TIME TO CREATE
36-39 years old
Hello dear boy, what is it you seek?
My bones are old, my skin is meek
Time has thorns, full of redemption
Couldn’t you leave it and make an exemption?
This old woman carries your mark
The brush you used was always stark
My canvas was black right from the start
Why bring it up now? Why break my heart?
So Dear boy, if you want to know
What lies beneath a seed that won’t grow?
It happened in, one fateful night
A stranger’s lust turned into fright
One man’s burning desire
Emblazoned in my legs of fire
His breath of gin smelt of sin
His dirty nails pierced my skin
These delicate lips made to kiss
Hushed out by his spiteful hiss
It lasted for what seemed for hours
I lost my grip I lost my power
And so dear boy, the story goes
A baby was born thrust from the throes
Your angel eyes were a sad reminder
Your father that raised you was just a provider
Time is meant to heal all things
But one man’s sin pulled our strings
I thought my canvas was strong enough
But your eyes too strong caught my bluff
So my darling boy, the cross that you bear
Was not of your making but something I wear
Your father’s fury, was just a shield
Of the ugly things this world can yield
I cried an ocean of Noah’s Arc
The day I left you in the dark
Please forgive me for what I’ve done
In the end you’re still my son.
40-60 years old
Good Morning gentlemen, welcome to class
Put down your brush, if you want to pass
Today’s lesson is about the female anatomy
How you treat it, with good mental alchemy
A woman’s body is meant for a shrine
A gift from God, Mother Divine
All it takes is one man’s hate
To change the state of a woman’s fate
A woman’s lighthouse cannot be defined
You cannot box it and call it mine
She lends it to whoever she chooses
Be delicate with it, do not abuse it
Eons of Wisdom embraced in the womb
Traced in the history of ancient tombs
A Goddess lies beneath your making
Her vessel opens her light is aching
Careful how you tend her sheep
Men can’t sow what she reaps
This is why before you paint
Learn to love, control restraint
If you cannot complete this simple task
You will fail my class with no pass.
The End.
Poetry Reading: Morning by, Vihang A Naik
Performed by Val Cole
What is the theme of your poem?
I have been always in pursuit of going beyond physical. Going beyond physics. I consider physical body is weak but the spirit is strong. Spiritualism, perhaps can be the theme besides other layers of themes. It may have multiple interpretations. Hermeneutics .
What motivated you to write this poem?
The impulse running underneath the is letting go of physical and realising the spritual.
How long have you been writing poetry?
I have now been writing poetry since more than three decades .
If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Dinner reminds me of the last supper. I wish i was with nine disciples of Christ.
What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
To me poetry is performance as well along with reading it out aloud with certain specific rhythm.
And Festival for Poetry has come out with indescribable idea for performance reading my some one who for other field of arts. An actor. It is always exciting to see how your poetry gets performed.
Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
I practice writing poetry in Gujarati language ( my mother tongue ) besides translations I often translate Gujarati language poetry into English language besides my own Gujarati language poetry .
What is your passion in life?
The ultimate passion in life is to be human. I love this life where we are human beings.
Is it not true that when you wake up to see the world and switch on your television and you see all nations torn apart and that centre cannot hold …
Vihang A. Naik 😦 b. 1969 ) Indian poet writing in English.He took to teaching as a profession, serving in colleges since 1996 in Gujarat. He lives and works in Gujarat, India. He can be visited at http://www.vihang.org
Poetry Reading: Blue Remembered Hills by Cas Greenfield
Performed by Laura Kyswaty
What is the theme of your poem?
The passage of time…
What motivated you to write this poem?
I live as much ‘in the moment’ as I am able and the smallest of events can inspire me – a twig cracking underfoot, the scent of Rosemary as I brush past. The ‘Blue Remembered Hills’ is the place I live.
How long have you been writing poetry?
I’ve ben writing for 60+ years.
If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
John Donne (1572 – 1631)
What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
Some of my songs and poems have been performed by other artists and I enjoy a different take on my words, often revealing something I had not discovered myself in my own works.
Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
I am a singer songwriter and Blue Remembered Hills is one of my songs. I am releasing an album in October 2017. I also write novels. And I am a painter.
What is your passion in life?
Words, Music, Art, Love.
Poetry Reading: Isadore Greely’s Place, by DE Navarro
Performed by Val Cole
What is the theme of your poem?
Never prematurely judge things by appearance and always expect the unexpected.
Also, secondarily, it is intended to simply be a scary thriller.
What motivated you to write this poem?
I was doing some genealogy research and found one of our family names to be “Isadore.” Isadore is kind of a spooky name to me, a name you would expect to find in a Transylvania manor. So I pictured this old, isolated manor on a hill with bats and moon glow and all the other “eerie” stuff and was inspired to write a poem about what it might be like for someone’s car to break down on a cold evening way out in the middle of nowhere and they have to take shelter in this old stone manor on the hill that is spooky and creepy, and this guy named Isadore lives there.
How long have you been writing poetry?
47 years
If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it would be a lot more fun to have dinner with someone who is alive rather than dead. I’ve had some dates I thought were dead and it wasn’t fun. Ha! Seriously, it would be cool to have dinner with Robert Frost.
What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
Thought it would be cool to have a scary poem performed and that it might be a good promotional tool for my other work, so I went for it.
Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
I write short stories and have three published. I write business and quality of life articles, many have been published. I write articles about managing personal finances for GOBankingRates . com. I write articles about poetry and writing and I write essays about life, the world, society and more. I write science fiction/fantasy stories and am working on a novel. And of course, I write poetry, I have two full collections of poetry published, both have been received very well and I get some great reviews.
What is your passion in life?
Writing stories, poetry and non-fiction works.
Poetry Reading: I Will Not Say I Love You, by Daisy Twizell
Performed by Peter-Mark Raphael
Poetry Reading: THE FALLEN SOLDIER, by Patricia Krull
Performed by Peter-Mark Raphael
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
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.
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