Happy Belated Birthday, John Lane

Let's feature more of your work soon.

 

Happy Birthday, John Lane

Get some more poems out, would you?

Happy Birthday, John Lane

Happy Birthday, John Lane

The last pre-pandemic feature ever. What was Stone Soup like back then?

Happy Birthday, John Lane

 Come back, John! Come back!

 

Happy Birthday John Lane

Stone Soup Croutons, 2-27-20, A Pox on Us

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions picked from Stone Soup's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here. To paraphrase Lorne Michaels, this poem doesn't go up because it's ready, it goes up because it's Friday morning.

It does once again, at least, now that I'm back from vacation.

John Lane featured last night. The day he featured was moved to Thursday due to a scheduling issue at the gallery. I'm grateful for John's flexibility. I'm grateful to everyone who showed. We even had a visitor from Barcelona who follows Oddball Magazine. I think I'll keep my Facebook pages going for a while longer, evil as they are.

A large part of inspiration came from John's poems. Some in his new book dry stick prayer, some not. The rest came form the impending pandemic. Yes, that's where my mind is. We're all screwed. Thanks for reading anyway.


A Pox on Us

We check our pulses
between airport frisks.

Off I Go

I haven't hosted a Thursday Stone Soup event in a while. This is going to be interesting.

John Lane is featuring tonight. Hope you're in the audience.

Proper Flyer

John Lane this week! New date, same time! 

Corrected Flyer

John Lane reads next Thursday instead of next Wednesday due to scheduling conflict.

Flyer for John Lane's Feature

February 26: John Lane's Overdue Feature at Stone Soup

Edit: The date has been changed due to a scheduling conflict.

John Lane was one of the new people I met through Stone Soup's last home at St. Paul's Cathedral. The open mic gained a new friend, and I looked forward to seeing him get published more. Now he has a new collection from No Fixed Address Press and a feature with us on February 27. This is a big occasion for me, and I hope you show up for it.

New Month, New Blood

Here's the week's first salvo of poetry and photography from John Lane. It's nice to start things off at Oddball Magazine.

Happy Birthday John Lane

William J. Barnum Obituary

Thanks to John Lane for spotting this last night. 

I wish there were more than this in The Boston Globe. I appreciate the family doing this, as printing obituaries doesn't come cheap for anyone. Still, to have only this feels unacceptable.

Addendum:By that, I mean the Globe, or SOMEBODY should do a follow piece in SOME local paper.

Stone Soup Croutons, 6-20-19, Outreach

Stone Soup Croutons is a weekly poem I write using lines and impressions picked up from poems overheard from Stone Soup's open mic readers and features. I figure out a title (and sometimes the rest of the poem) later. You can read the other ones I've done since 2015 here. To paraphrase Lorne Michaels, this poem doesn't go up because it's ready, it goes up because it's Friday morning.

We had another all-open mic last night. My personal challenge for this week was prompted by John Lane who last week mentioned during the open mic that he was getting tired of writing poems about poetry. As someone who's written more than a few of those myself, I could sympathize.

On one had, what else is an unheard poet in America going to write about? On the other hand, it was a nice challenge to take up. This poem started to take form as a poem about poetry, but I took a hard no and steered it toward...something else. Thanks for reading.


Outreach

Welcome as a shipless mast
on a busy street in India.

Impeccably dressed
for a pity party of none.