Saturday July 20 at 7pm The Askew poetry journal reading celebrating the publication of Askew #14 hosts: Marsha de la O and Phil Taggart poets reading so far.. Chryss Yost, Herb Reich, Fiona Spring, Ron Alexander, Joyce LaMers, Geoffrey Jaques, Albert Salinas, Suzanne Lummis, Tim Tipton, Perie Longo, Mariano Zaro, Ellen Reich, Florence Weinberger, Doris Vernon, Glenna Luschei, Bruce Schmidt, Gaby LeMay, Alicia Morris-Soto, Dian Sousa, Paula C. Lowe, Polly Bee, Sarah Maclay EP Foster Library in the Topping Room 651 E. Main Street - Ventura $5 donation poem from Askew #14… Jon Veinberg Chess Under the wind nudged almond blossoms I spread out a red and black checkered cloth and placed it on the bumpy surface of the sawedoff tree trunk. In my bag of mixed pieces I can hear the unruly knights chomping air, nostrils flaring, veins twitching to find an empty field to leap into and the ascetic, angular bishops, shifting their eyes across a plain of blood-stained fist pumping pawns who shout slogans of hate toward their opposing likeness while the isolated king admonishes the squat-backed rooks for not policing its borders and leaving the wander-lusted queen in jeopardy. From my folding chair I am playing God by moving pieces from both sides and because of that, there are no winners or losers only lost and chipped pieces and a game that lasts long into the dark, into another spring. I move when and how the mood strikes me: Which king to blindfold, which to gag, whether to rescue the horse that strayed and got cornered on a square soon to be set on fire, or leave its torched carcass as a lesson against grazing. Most of the pawns have now fallen shoulder to shoulder and been dropped into a common coffin, black and white shuffled together, half a nation short of a flag planting. Between moves the blossoms turn to fruit, the untasted fruit rots on the tree, falls to the ground and is boot-heeled by another generation of players in a game that never ends and is not meant to be played by angels. More poems from Askew #14 Dian Sousa’s - Good Luck, youtube/watch?v=bTzGm33Qih8 Chris Buckley - Social Contracts, Neocons and Cliches youtube/watch?v=iWnflXXy088 poets published in this edition of Askew Ron Alexander, Danny P. Barbare, Tree Bernstein, Christopher Buckley, Carol DeCanio, Brian C. Felder, Michael C Ford, Robert Hedin, Amy Henry, Catherine Abbey Hodges,Charlotte Innes, Geoffrey Jacques, Ron Kostar, Joyce La Mers,Amanda Leigh, Lyn Lifshin, Suzanne Lummis, Glenna Luschei,Amalio Madueño, Ally Malinenko, Holaday Mason,Henry J. Morro, Kid Nomad, G B Osborne, Frederick Pollack, Peg Quinn, Herb Reich, Anthony Robbins, Carl Sacherkinden, David Slavin, Kristie Soares, Dian Sousa, Shelby Stephenson, Joa Suorez, Patti Sullivan, Tim Tipton, Amy Uyematsu, Jon Veinberg, Florence Weinberger, Jake Young editors: Marsha de la O, Phil Taggart and Friday Lubina
Posted on: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 06:02:51 +0000
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