Happy Birthday, Ethan Mackler

 Here's a clip of Ethan from 2019 at St. Paul's Cathedral.

 

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.

Last Night Outside St. Paul's

Yesterday, I was waiting for Ryan Travis to pick up the podium, as he and his wife Holly will be giving it a new coat of paint. I ended up leaning on it little the same way I do during Stone Soup. A musician walking by was walking by and hollered, "Hey! Three-card Monte? How much?"

Yeah someone walked by alater nd asked if I was preaching, but I liked that guy's comment better Sadly, I had no deck of cards to pull otu and no clever reply.

Well, That's Done

Thanks to everyone at St. Paul's for the hospitality. Stay tuned.

The Last Night

See you in a short while for Stone Soup's last gathering in St. Paul's Cathedral with Ryan "Rat" Travis. Then in two weeks, we start in our new location.

Happy Birthday John Lane

August 29: Stone Soup and Ryan "Rat" Travis Say Farewell to St. Paul's

Stone Soup is grateful to the hospitality of St. Paul's Cathedral this past year. We don't want to give up the location entirely (there may be some special events hosted there in the future), but Stone Soup needs to move on if we are to return to our former glory. This Thursday, we bid the Cathedral farewell with a feature by Ryan "Rat" Travis, who will send us off in style. Be there, then join us at our new location at the Assemblage Gallery tarting Wednesday, September 11.

The State of Stone Soup, 8-26-19

TL;DR: Stone Soup's FINAL gathering at the Cathedral of Saint Paul will be this Thursday on August 29. 

Stone Soup gatherings will start up  again every WEDNESDAY starting on September 11 from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Assemblage Gallery at 70(a) Sleeper Street, a part of the Fort Point Arts Community. Email me if you want to be a part of that first day.

It has been over a year since any "official" report on Stone Soup Poetry. I haven't had much I've wanted to share. Until today.

Stone Soup Croutons, 8-22-19, Trump in Heaven

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.

During last night's open mic, I made the announcement I'll be putting in writing on Monday. The rest of you will have to wait until next week.

Last week, I wrote a poem called "Trump in New Hampshire," which I recently corrected. For reasons that may be obvious after Monday, I want to make a triptych of poems. That means last week was the unintentional first part, this week is the second part, and the third part will hopefully happen next week.

I know that the term triptych primarily refers topanel  paintings, but I just like saying the word "triptych."

The poem came together with the help of last night's participants and this piece of recent news. Thanks for reading.


Trump in Heaven

See say something,
even if it's the sun.

Some will be excited
to hear it still rises.

It's On Tonight

Stone Soup is happening in a couple of hours. I hope to see you there.

August 22: Stone Soup Keeps Trying to Beat the Heat

I've had a hard time sharing news this summer, but I want to get this news of this Thursday's Stone Soup out early. Mostly because there's going to be a lot of news this week. I hope you can join us for an open week of open mic and optional workshop. We have air conditioning. It's the least we can do for you during this hot summer.

Stone Soup Croutons, 8-15-19, Trump in New Hampshire

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.

 Stone Soup had an open mic last night. Tonight is the Boston Poetry Marathon. Admittedly, all my energy is focusing on that even thought I have to work to do today, including this poem. It was a small poem last night, hence the small poem. Had some fun with it based on the news in my inbox. The fact that Gawaine Ross started with an E.E. Cummings poem helped.

I'm planning an ambitious Croutons-style piece for this year's marathon like the one I did last year. If I screw it up, you won't hear me discussing it ever again. For now, here's my little poem, and thanks for reading.


Trump in New Hampshire

Republican wind
blows room apart
windows only close.

It's Coming Up

See you at Stone Soup tonight.

August 15: Stone Soup Welcomes All Poets

Stone Soup's all-open mic is  is happening tonight. The Boston Poetry Marathon is happening this Friday. If you're a poet in town for the event, I hop you have time to stop by tonight, introduce yourself and read a little. It will help promote the Marathon and get more people to go. Plus you get more time to read poetry in Boston. Everybody wins! See you tonight?

Stone Soup Croutons, 8-8-19, Loose Change

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.

A very small open mic last night. I'm grateful for anyone who comes to Stone Soup, but I hope new changes will bring greater numbers soon.

I had a lot to think about last night. So much so that I didn't write anything down until this morning. And I'm still early, which is funny.

I almost thought about making the poem a tanka, but I changed my mind as I thought about it. Maybe that helped the poem, maybe it didn't We'll see. Thanks for reading.


Loose Change

Man on the street
asks for enough pennies

Tonight

I need to get what's left of my act together before heading to Stone Soup for tonight's open mic. I messed up. I didn't get tonight's event put up on Facebook. Hopefully, it won't effect things much. See you tonight.

August 8: Stone Soup is Back

Stone Soup has never left (at least not this year), but people seem to forget this. I try to remind them all the time. I really do. You can come this Thursday and take part in what's been the regular all-open mic for the summer. I didn't expect it to be this way for the summer. I'll explain why it's been this way at some point. Until then, come and enjoy our company. More announcements coming.

Stone Soup Croutons, 8-1-19, Return to Sender

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.

Last night was another open mic. Today is the poem. Don't mean to be curt in my intro, but it was a short but sweet open mic. The heat from the past few days wore people out and kept them away. I'm just happy to get the poem done early and start new work. Politics were on my mind quite a bit, and I'm glad yesterday's participants helped me get that out. Thanks for reading.


Return to Sender

What's going to happen
when we find ourselves
all in unknown places
we were told to go back to.

It's Thursday

It's past five. Poets are waiting for me, and I'm wearing black. See you later at Stone Soup's open mic, I hope.

August 1: Stone Soup Gathers Once Again

We have another open mic this Thursday. It's been a rough summer, but we're still here. I hope to have more to announce before summer ends. Thanks for bearing with me. I hope to see you this week.