John Sakkis read from his long piece Quotidian and then made a beeline for the kitchen to have a beverage. Sarah Menefee graced us with some older work, and a generous selection of newer, one-line poems. It was a small crowd, but we had a good time. A great deal of drink was poured, and minds satisfied. Thanks John and Sarah, and everybody who made it!
It was a nice big group for the last ZEAL at the Clayton Street apartment. Logan Ryan Smith read us poems, finishing with a bunch of loooove poems for the Holiday Season. After several drinks were consumed by several people, the lovely and talented Suzanne Stein succeeded in reading us great poetry but failed in her attempt to, viz Warhol, "leave us wanting less." She did do a headstand, and we did clap. Thanks LRS and SS and everybody who left Clayton St. dismantled!
Well, this was some inauguration for Zeal at the new place. Summi Kaipa questioned her status as poet and then answered her own question by reading fantastic poetry. Drinks were consumed. Megan Pruiett read poems and made us chuckle. Nothing caught on fire, and somehow latecomers who rang our absolutely horrific doorbell all came during the break and disrupted no-one's rapt attention. Thanks ad infinitum Summi & Megan and all who came out!
A very warm and large bunch visited us for this fantastic reading. Nikolai Bizansker showed up with a shirt that read, "Buzanski." He then read from a long group of poems. Drinks were consumed, loves were lost, happy birthdays were sung. Elise Ficarra read shorter works, and then amassed a large group of people to perform a poem-in-progress-for-multiple-voices. It was stunning, people were stunned, the drunken-ness that ensued was furthermore stunning. Thanks Nikolai and Elise and crew!
Phew. David Baker Benson read short poems from a journal and then gave a hot group a taste of his band, Masterpiece. There was fervent applause, and then drinks were consumed. Along with drinks, ZEAL featured cheese and crackers, courtesy of co-resident Yessica Collins. Cheese and crackers were thusly consumed, followed by the just unbelievable work of Larry Kearney. Gasps were heard, drinks were downed, and cigars were even smoked. Thanks so much DBB and Larry, and all ya'll!
The Fall series started out really great. Kate Pringle read a variety of shorter works and George Albon read from two books, the recently released Brief Capital Of Disturbances and new work. We were small but we were rowdy. My downstairs neighbor harassed Aaron Shurin, drinks were consumed, and baseball was discussed. Thanks oh thank you Kate and George!
It was fucking HOT. And a hot reading, too. Aaron Shurin read beautiful personal prose and Geneva Chao read some shorter and longer poems. It was really hot, and we all learned that wearing black when it is really hot is really not the wisest thing. Jack Daniels appeared next to a large bottle of, mysteriously, cranberry juice. It was way too hot for wine. Thanks so much Aaron and Geneva, and all who came by!