July 12: Poetry in the Boro Virtual Open Mic
On Sunday, July 12, Poetry in the Boro continues in a virtual format. Attendees are encouraged to connect at 6:45 p.m., with the show running from 7 p.m. about an hour. As usual, you can share a poem of your own or a favorite by another author. All styles of poetry and spoken word are welcome, with a four-minute time limit. Pre-registration is required for those wanting a turn at the mic. Check out Facebook or poetryintheboro.org for details, including this month’s word challenge.
Submit Your Poem, Haiku or Photo for Local Calendar
Poetry in the Boro has announced the group’s first annual Poetry Calendar. This 2021 wall calendar will feature poetry and photography by creatives with a connection to Rutherford County. Proceeds from the calendar will go to support Poetry in the Boro programming in 2021 and beyond.
Deadline for submissions is July 15. Contributing poets and photographers will be paid $45 per image or poem. Featured haiku writers will be paid $15 per haiku. Each contributor will also receive a complimentary copy of the calendar.
The calendar will be released in late fall 2020. Find submission details at poetryintheboro.org.
View These Videos Anytime
Poetry in the Boro and Poetry in the Brew, a Nashville reading series and open mic, recently co-sponsored a Black Voices Matter event on Facebook Live. Hosted by local poet and comic Nick Bush, the event featured Middle Tennessee poets and spoken word artists including Destiny Birdsong, Tiana Clark, Christian Collier, Jasmine Dominique, Henry L. Jones, Shondell McFall, Ciona Rouse and more. Find the video on Poetry in the Brew’s Facebook page.
The Murfreesboro Cultural Arts Laureates have been busy in the studio recording a new series called “Learning with the Laureates.” As of this writing, poet laureate Amie Whittemore has recorded two segments, one about metaphor and one about persona poems. Painter laureate Dawna Magliacano shares drawing ideas in two segments, “Sketchbook” and “More Sketchbook Fun.” Watch these videos and then get to your own creativity on a hot summer day!
Reading, Storytelling and More
Inspired by the women’s suffrage centennial this August, Bloom: The Stage Where Our Stories Grow will focus on Tennessee’s War of the Roses and other stories of “women’s rights, civil rights, voting rights and doubling down for democracy” for its next quarterly show. Check producer Kara J. Kemp’s Facebook page, or Poetry in the Boro, for a call for submissions later in July.
Other local groups, including the Rutherford Arts Alliance and the local League of Women Voters, are celebrating the 19th amendment centennial by inviting the community to read The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss. A version of this popular book is also out this summer for young readers. Be watching online for event details.
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Almost Midnight
by Deborah A. Miranda, used courtesy Split This Rock’s The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database at splitthisrock.org
Wife and dogs have gone to bed.
I sit here with the front door open.
Crickets sing patiently, a long lullaby
in lazy harmony. Rain falls
on our tin roof; sharp taps of reality,
start and stop. I breathe myself back
into my body. Come back, self. You’ve
been out fighting demons and bullies
and liars. You’ve been talking
to an electronic box with no ears.
You’ve been cheering for a democracy
that doesn’t exist. We’re all walking on bones.
Some of us are walking on more bones
than others. Breathe. Back into the body,
little one. The human world is broken,
but so beautifully. Corruption of the soul
never shows scars; when you don’t resist,
no wounds exist. Breathe, breathe it back.
In this world, we live in bodies of flesh.
In this world our souls tether themselves
with blood. This is a good thing. Otherwise
we might take wing into darkness,
never touch our Mother, twist language
into silvery shapes. Breathe now. Let
the crickets tell you their truth.
Let it be yours, for now.
