Substitution, Summer Mark Last Sunday Poetry

The summer part first, it was a lovely late August evening for the Bloomington Writers Guild’s Last Sunday Poetry (cf. July 28, et al.) at Morgenstern Books. But one featured poet was unable to make it, so Coordinator Hiromi Yoshida had had to draft local writer/dancer/actor plus co-writer with Wild Swan Theatre of MYTHS, MASKS, AND MAGIC: WORLD STORIES OF FIRST TIMES Zilia Balkansky-Sellés (who we’ve met in the past, cf. First Sunday Prose October 2 2022, March 1 2020, et al.) to stand in instead.

Proving herself an able poet along with an essayest, memoirist, etc., with work as well in the original volume of STORMWASH: ENVIRONMENTAL POEMS (see April 19, March 11), Balkansky-Sellés answered the call with a varied palette of mostly new poems, including two still being worked on for STORMWASH, VOLUME 2. She was followed by Poetry Society of Indiana President as well as a leader of numerous poetry workshops John Hinton, with two collections in print, BLACKBIRD SONGS and HELD, a self-described darker poet who, in his words, started off with a “semi-happy” poem and continued from there with a series of mostly short, personal poems on such subjects as coffee, fear of loss, and dancing (however ineptly) at a school-sponsored father-daughter event.

Ending the session, nine “open mic” poets read with me precisely in the middle at number five. My offering, tipping a hat to the season as well, came from last month’s Third Sunday Write challenge (cf. August 2) with the title “High Summer,” on angels, wars, and marijuana.