The reading at the May 20, 2006, fundraiser was very enjoyable and brought in $85 in contributions. "Children of all ages" enjoyed poetry and songs in many languages, including English, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, German, and Kannada. Everyone received an illustrated booklet of the children's poetry to take home.



PoemAlley will add $15 to bring the total donation to $100. The Childcare Center will use the funds to buy two boxes of 5 puzzles each - wooden, "industrial strength" puzzles showing women in non-traditional roles - for the children.

Thanks to everyone for your participation!

On May 11 we had a nice meeting, mainly discussing the upcoming poetry reading on May 20 — a fundraiser for the Child Care Learning Center at Forest Street.

The Center asked for sturdy wooden puzzles (industrial strength) showing women in non-traditional roles. It will help the Child Care Center to earn their accreditation for this site.

Next meeting will be Thursday, June 8 at 7:30.

Eva-Maria
and PoemAlley friends.

This month I would like to speak about our May 20 fundraiser for Head Start/Day Care Center, a non profit program renting space from UUSIS.

When PoemAlley presented the idea to Rev. Ron Sala, he said how glad he was of the role PoemAlley continues to play to bring together his congregation and other organizations that do good. Thank you, Ron, for such kind words.

As I said above, the fundraiser is for Head Start/Day Care Center. Children from the Center and children from the Religious Education Program of the Unitarian Universalist Society will read their own poems. Catherine Ednie kindly agreed to make a little booklet of their poems for the kids to take home. Adult poets from PoemAlley and Curley's Diner will also read. To give the children a more relaxed atmosphere, Suzy Capone from UUSIS is going to tell some stories between the readings. Thank you, Suzy. Poems will be read in English, Spanish and maybe in some other languages as well.

Again, the event is going to be on Saturday, May 20, from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Cost: $10 per person (suggested contribution)

Please do come and support that very much worthwhile gathering for the little ones of Head Start/Day Care Center. Let’s give them a head start!

Eva-Maria and
PoemAlley Friends

PS Next PoemAlley meeting is the second Thursday, May 11, 2006, at 7:30 PM. Please, do come. Would love to see you.

Please come and support Poetry Open Mic on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 in
the Ferguson Library @ 7pm

Read something you've written yourself or a favorite by someone else. Or just come and listen.

Light refreshments will be served.

http://calendar.fergusonlibrary.org/calendar/index.html

Tom LaSalle
Ferguson Library
1 Public Library Plaza
Stamford, CT 06904

We are planning a small fundraiser in mid-May. It’s all in the early stages. We shall be able to give you more detailed information in April. The core will be PoemAlley and Curley's Reading plus some ”little” surprises. It’s a good project, for a good cause. PoemAlley is really excited about it.

At the end of our March session Ron Sala paid us a visit, which was nice. Ralph read some of his poems; so did Jim and I.

Pat Kane was so generous in lending her beautiful antique house on March 12 for a reading of Ralph’s poems from his book “Ferrying Secrets”. Pat, thank you so much. It was such a lovely evening.

That is all for this month. Enjoy the spring-like weather.

Hope to see many of you on Thursday, April 13, at 7:30 pm.

Eva-Maria and PoemAlley Friends

Interested in publishing? You may find this worth attending:

CT Authors and Publishers Assocation 3rd Annual CAPA UNIVERSITY
Professional Development Day
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Hartford Steam Boiler Conference Facilities, Hartford

Featuring: 15 breakout sessions
Lori Perkins, Keynote speaker
Meet with an agent or marketer

For more information check out CAPA's website at www.aboutcapa.com.

=======================+

CAPA is also holding their 2006 Writing Competition
First prize $100
Second prize $50
In each of four categories: Poetry, short story, personal essay, and
children's story.

Stay tuned to their website: www.aboutcapa.com for more information.

A thank you to all who attended our February 9 session and gave Ralph such a warm welcome upon his return from India. Before reading from his book, Ralph shared with us some of his experiences during the trip. Just to mention a few: the start in his native Mangalore in the South; an excursion to Hyderabad where he read to the CIEFL (Central Institute of English & Foreign Languages); and a visit to Bombay, where he was a guest of the National Center for the Performing Arts. Of course, the Indo-European connection up to the importance of the present-day Indian Silicon Valley were also discussed at length..


With Ralph’s permission, I’ll finish with one of his poems.

Sunday Morning with Walt

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
Walt Whitman

The brick oven roars,
the steaming bagels
lifted out on smoking paddles
sizzle in the arcing air
and thud into labeled bins
warm in diversity:

Sesame, poppy, oatmeal,
plain, salt, pumpernickel,
black, brown, yellow,
pale glowing orbs,
burnished gold,
some with everything.

In line this Sunday morning
I celebrate myself and sing myself
and what I assume
you shall assume
for every bagel that belongs to me
as well belongs to you.
¨

Nice. Wish I could have one right now!

Hope to see you second Thursday, March 9 at 7:30 PM, room A

Eva-Maria and
PoemAlley Friends.

Well, as we always stressed, reading our own poetry is priority number one! This certainly proved to be true last Thursday. Marjolijn, Rita, Herb and Jim read their poems at the beginning of the evening. They shared which occasion ignited the first spark and the imperative of getting this moment/impression put down on paper. It was a wonderful evening that helped to get to know each other better.

At the end of the evening I read two humorous short poems by Gelett Burgess

The Purple Cow
I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.

“Five year after”
Ah, yes! I wrote the “Purple Cow”
I’m sorry, now, I wrote it!
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’ll kill you if you quote it!

On Thursday, February 9, Ralph Nazareth who will have just returned from a trip to India, (welcome back, Ralph) will be at PoemAlley, “Ferrying Secrets” in hand, willing to answer and discuss all questions we have concerning his wonderful book.

With that event to look forward to I say goodbye for now. Please, do come on Thursday, February 9, to the Rectory building, first floor, room A.

Eva-Maria and the
PoemAlley Friends

The Beyond the Fence chapbook debuted at a well-attended reading on Saturday, December 17, at the UUSIS Social Room.

The chapbook, edited by Ralph Nazareth and Catherine Ednie, features the poetry of 30 local poets from the Curley's and PoemAlley groups.

Get one of the first edition copies, featuring hand-painted covers in your choice of vibrant color! Copies available at the UUSIS (call 348-0708) or Curley's Diner. The cost is $5.00, which goes to fund additional poetry programs.

This month we concluded the H.C. Anderson/Brothers Grimm/Browning sessions. This was also the conclusion of Anderson’s 200th birthday (April 2, 1805--August 4, 1875).

On Friday, December 9, 2005, the PoemAlley Poetry Workshop for high school students, led by instructor Herbert Davison at the Unitarian church, also ended. The program was a huge success. Below are the names of the five students who will receive a certificate on December 17 at 4:00 PM at the Social Room of the church. They were invited by PoemAlley to read one of their poems, and this way participate on the occasion of the first reading of the newly published chapbook “Beyond the Fence”, edited by Ralph Nazareth and Catherine Ednie.

Kirsten Crowley, Stamford High School
Tyler DuBois , Stamford High School
Blair Ednie, Stamford High School
Nick Fesenko, Stamford High School
Max von Stein, Westhill High School

Congratulations to all, and a big thank you to Herbert Davison for being a superb instructor and motivator.

The next PoemAlley get-together will be on Thursday, January 12, in the same place, conference room #A at the UUSIS.

Next Topic: Humor: How were other generations who went through hard times helped by poetic humor? Do you think of a particular century and poet? Lets talk about it. As always, poem readings will be the priority.

Have a good beginning to the New Year!

Eva-Maria and the PoemAlley Friends.