Mark Your Calendars - Future Poetry Events with The Jasper Project and Al Black

For the poetry lovers and art appreciators in the Columbia area, Jasper’s own Al Black will host a plethora of live events for poets and readers to be a part of. Each of the events have their own schedules, allowing for plenty of opportunities to fit everyone’s schedules. 

Mind Gravy Poetry is a weekly event that meets on Wednesdays from 7-9 PM at Cool Beans Coffee Company. The event includes music and poetry features, followed by open mic time, allowing for new voices to let their creativity and written word be heard.

For monthly meetups and activities, the first Tuesday of every month holds Simple Gifts, from 7-9 PM at the Friends Meeting House. The meetup includes music and poetry features and concludes with an open mic session. On the last Tuesdays of every month is the Jasper Poetry Salon, from 7-9 PM. It occurs at 1013 Duke Avenue and encourages poets of all experience levels to come and share their writings and appreciation for the art form. On the last Sunday of each month is Front Porch Swing, an outdoor event with live music; don’t forget your lawn chairs and coolers! Front Porch Swing also takes place at 1013 Duke Avenue, from 2-4 PM.  These monthly events are sure to provide anything you’re looking for in the realm of Columbia’s poetry scene.

Words, Words, Words is a quarterly event hosted on a random Saturday in January, April, July and October from 2-4 PM at the Richland Library Southeast Branch on Garners Ferry Road. This event features a published poet with an original music introduction; the featured poet is often from out of town, providing a great surprise factor for those interested in attending each of the meetings for Words, Words, Words. The next event will be in October, and we’ll update when we know more.

Black often organizes and hosts ekphrastic poetry events that feature galleries and artists from the Southeast—showcasing the appreciation of the combination of the written word and visual accompaniment. 

POEM: Concrete Mary by Al Black

Concrete Mary

Against the chill of morning
I put on shoes and a warm jacket.
Robins and sparrows scavenge seeds;
Call back and forth from fence to ground

Squirrels in fur coats
Don't mind autumn's approach.
In high grass, a lone cricket
Chirps along the fence

Unafraid of the old man
With an empty coffee cup 
Four city deer snort and graze
On overgrown shrubs

Seven days remain of summer
One week, a quarter moon
Before earth tilts away,
Before solstice chases the sun.

As if she knows a secret, she cannot tell
Concrete Mary smiles her Mona Lisa smile
Practices yoga on the wall
And holds asana pose

Mary, when did you become holy?
Was it when they pulled you from the mold,
Loaded the truck, took you to a garden shop,
Tagged, sold and someone took you home?

Or was it the act of setting you on a wall where
Lichen took root and pulled substance from air?
How many tenants have you known?
Do you know movers come on Wednesday?

Sun peers through overcast skies
Warms Mary’s plaster gown,
Outstretched hands gather light,
Her face becomes a moon

Chipmunk chatters at plastic owl
Roosting on the patio wall
Red birdhouse in neighbor’s yard
Sits empty waiting for spring

Rain comes, drips from fingers
Concrete Mary holds her pose 
Somewhere Joseph
Holds the baby so nothing disturbs her peace

Rain comes, drips from finger tips,
Puddles at feet; she holds the pose 
she struck when she became an Italian citizen
And awaits her son’s reanimation 

The Jasper Project thanks board member Al Black for generously sharing his poetry with our readers. Watch for more in the Al Black Jasper Project Poetry Series in days and weeks to come.

Al Black is a writer, poet, host, and social activist. He is the author of two poetry collections, I Only Left For Tea (2014) and Man With Two Shadows (2018) and he co-edited, Hand in Hand, Poets Respond to Race (2017) and his work has been published in several anthologies and periodicals. Contact Al Black at albeemindgravy@gmail.com.