Original poetry by Jeremy Cantor.
LITERATURE
Here’s to the song you heard when you were falling in love but have forgotten the…
it feels like the season’s last rain the last rain before the living sweet green …
Clear Lake Campground rests on the edge of Cache Creek and has welcomed visitors for decades. RVs, tents, and trailers stretch along the creek’s banks. Kids play ping pong under the covered patio; an older couple sits in their foldup chairs, sipping on coffee. It’s another summer Saturday at the campground. But there’s excitement near the office, where Lisa Wilson, owner of Clear Lake Campground, Georgina Marie, Lake County Poet Laureate, and Gary Maes, the mastermind behind the Main St. Poetry Boxes, check the alignment of the newest poetry box. You may have bumped into a poetry box while wandering down Main Street in Kelseyville or wandered by one in Middletown. There, if you take a second, you’ll notice a well-made wooden box mounted to a wall, a poem tacked inside. It’s all part of a plan to spread poetry throughout the county.
The Bloom and Georgina Marie are excited to present our next quarterly contest: Poetry of the Outliers! For our 2nd quarterly poetry contest, we want to focus on poetry from the margins of our society: written by poets who are People of Color, LGBTQIA+, disabled, houseless, coping with mental health challenges, etc. Send us one of your best/favorite original poems in an editable Word document to georginamarie@lakecountybloom.com before July 31st, 2021. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be selected and will win cash prizes and the publication of your poems.
In the second episode, Georgina Marie discusses poetry with poet and Alameda Poet Laureate Kimi Sugioka. Kimi is an educator and poet. She earned an MFA from Naropa University and has published two books of poetry; the newest of which is Wile & Wing on Manic D Press. She is the poet laureate of Alameda, California, and her work appears in various anthologies including Civil Liberties United, Endangered Species Enduring Values, Colossus: Home, and The City is Already Speaking Vol. 4.
Harold Taylor, head of the Lake County Horseshoe Association, blinks through his wire-rimmed glasses in mild confusion. His bristling grey mustache gives him the look of a walrus scholar. “Was it?” he asks. Dropping his gaze, he snaps open the locks of an ancient portfolio. It’s crammed with files. Running the back of his finger across the tabbed folders, he finds nothing helpful. “I thought it was 1983,” he says, “but if I told you 1987, that must’ve been it.” The date regards the start of the LCHA. Call it two generations ago. Back then, says Taylor, who also runs the Pro Desk at Mendo Mill & Lumber Co., in Lakeport, the games were a rolling affair, with players convening in each other’s backyards for some 20 years.
The winning poem of The Bloom’s Poetry of the Body contest
The 2nd place winning poem from The Bloom’s Poetry of the Body contest
The 3nd place winning poem from The Bloom’s Poetry of the Body contest
In our inaugural episode, Georgina Marie discusses poetry with poet Beulah Vega. Beulah Vega is a writer, poet, and theatrical artist living and working in California’s Bay Area. Her poetry has been published in The Literary Nest, Sage Cigarettes, Walled Women, and Blood & Bourbon among others. Her first book of poetry, ‘A Saga for the Unrequited’, will be published in August of 2021 by Fae Corps Publishing. And her theatrical production company: Heroines, Harpies, and Harlots will present the second annual Sonoma County Women’s theater festival “In Their Own Voice” starting May 8th. She will also be reading as part of the Eclipse Lit launch party/American Foundation for Suicide Prevention fundraiser on May 22nd. She is still amazed when people refer to her as a writer, every time. To listen, follow this link or visit https://www.lakecountybloom.com/rootedinpoetry
WEEK 4 NCO/EPIC POETRY CONTEST $100 WINNING POEM – FENCES BY KATE SCHMIDT-HOPPER
Original short fiction by Kelseyville High School’s Joseph Gentle.
