August 27, Kwoteman Featured Performer at Poetry Thurdays

The Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel's Poetry Thursdays presents Kwoteman aka Thomas J. Tolbert as our featured poet, August 27, at The Midtown Scholar Bookstore.

Tolbert (Kwoteman) was born in D.C., landed in Georgia, became part of a group called Poetic Magic where he was encouraged not only to write, but to recite his work. That's when "Kwoteman" was born. He began touring throughout Georgia, in Tampa and Orlando eventually through school and, finally, in schools and venues in Pennsylvania.

On Etsy, where his book, "...and so I write" (Poem Sugar Press, 2015) is available-- this description says it all, & very well: Spoken word with sweetness of spirit and honesty of soul characteristic of a true southern gentleman who has made the streets of Pennsylvania equally his domain. From memory reflections and touching family tributes to passionate calls to cultural empowerment and spiritual reflection, this collection is a look into the heart of of a Black man.

"Why do I write," asks Kwoteman, "because, like everyone else I have voice and a story to tell."

The Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel hosts Poetry Thursdays, a long-running community reading series, every Thursday from 7:00 to 8:50 pm. Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1302 North Third Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102 , Phone: 717.236.1680





There are lots of exciting events coming soon, for instance-- check it out!

Next month--

September 3-- Open poetry reading

September 10-- Shane Tanzymore

September 17- Open poetry reading

September 24-- Joelle Biele

A.J. Hayes, April 16 at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore

A.J. Hayes, April 16 At the Midtown Scholar Bookstore Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel Presents Baltimore Publisher/Poet, A.J. Hayes A. J. Hayes is a poet living in Baltimore, MD. He's the author of 30th Year Poetry and a chapbook of poetry and art, Look Upon. He has new poems forthcoming in The Light Ekphrastic as part of the Baltimore Ekphrasis Project. He's 1/3 of the hosts for PerVerse, a monthly poetry reading series and open mic at LitMore in Baltimore. He founded small press Hidden Clearing Books, LLC with his doppelganger, novelist and poet A. Jarrell Hayes. He invites you to visit his website at www.ajhayes.com.

Poetry Thursdays, a weekly reading series hosted by the Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel.. Open mic and featured performers, 7--9pm, Midtown Scholar 1302 North Third Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102. Phone: 717.236.1680.

When you´re smilin', Zooma Zooma, Oh Marie (Louis Prima und Sam Butera...

WE DON'T MAKE A PARTY OUT OF LOVIN'!

--HISTORYINAJIFFPRODUCTIONS&PRONOUNCEMENTSC1928

Ivonne: El Vanguardismo de Luis Palés Matos en su poemario...

Ivonne: El Vanguardismo de Luis Palés Matos en su poemario...: Luis Palés Matos (1898- 1959) en su poemario “Tuntún de pasa y grifería”. Encontró una fuente de inspiración en las costumbres tradicionales...

Penny Whistles, Muffins Mean Cookies Crumble

Penny whistles the old chestnut, Lily Marlene, roasting by an open fire. Every spectator is duplicious, you can trust only pastry. I might have meant taste. If tune is pure frivolity, then we become human when toasting our pleasure.

If only I hadn't lost my NURNBURG cap. If only, if only....

Did I mentions that Penny was whistling Lily Marlene?

Now, broken cookies are placed in only a few true mouths, about which the fabric of the heart can only wish, long for and adore. But even after a tiny amount of shards, or when, or even if, or, or-- I mean, I mean cookies crumble. Or maybe re-placed in only a few months, that might tilt the Earth's orbit in a slightly different direction.

But rotation would remain constant.

Moi? I'm as constant as the Northern star. Would I were as steadfast. Yeah, would I were.

Kuji is located in far north-eastern Iwate Prefecture, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east and, like, you know, the Kitakami Mountains to the west.

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Listen, a muffin display case doesn’t change in any way how you shared madeleines in the past, nor your febrile attempts to control who you want to share things in the future. Kuji was just a fling.

C'mon, don’t be sad. I mean, we'll always have Paris. Right, muffin?

of la-la & lu-lu...

They Said You Were High-Class… Sure, there used to be nine planets. But, from the time of them Katzenjammer Kids to post-millennial La-La & Lu-Lu, demographics were considered to be the work of the fulcrum. According to Francis E. Barcus, writing in 1958, 78 percent of the comics’ population is [was] male. But, or however (that’s how I roll), sez Barcus, “whilst the bachelor adventurer is [was] master of any situation, the married man tends [tended] to be ruled by his wife.” Love is where you find it. Characters in Barcus’ research-riff-ology, he concluded, were apt to be “either low or middle class.” Tender is the night. …that was just a line! Time has come/ today. Ol' Harvey Pekar would be jealous if he were live enough to give a shit anymore (not that he ever really did). La-La & Lu-Lu smacks of a David Lynch rip-off, but, hey-- you know-- in a good way. L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle. So where’s Pluto now? Man, Brain Tumor Comix could give a shiver of sharks the proverbial heebie-jeebies. Know I’m sayin’? Listen up, when F. E. Barcus said “[about] 78 percent…is [was]…” what precisely did he mean by “about”? And, just what, indeed, might we learn from the Lynchian La-La & Lu-Lu? I mean, we can learn much from Mary Worth/ if our hearts are pure. And, hey, you got-ta have heart. According to the Code of the Comics superhero costumes should be clean, though not impeccably so, so, comically speaking, there’s always room for variety in terms of apparel and general accoutrement. Verily. True dat! Summing up, Scott McCloud once inferred, say some, that/ to conclude is the final refuge of “the weak-minded,” which prompted debate over many of McCloud’s conclusions, most specifically, the outmoded concept of closure between panels. Wake up and smell the benzene, it's no longer alpha and your father’s Oldsmobile. Nono no. In this regard/ the currents turn awry, pardon my Elizabethan, and lose the name of action. I think Krazy Kat said it best-- wait, if you don’t mind, never mind. Rilly, never mind. I mean, truly... it’s not so much what he said/ but how he said it. Crazy, man, crazy. --Bloo Rockit