Appearance! Apperances!
By Barry Vitcov
Here are two theater-related poems with opposing styles. One a Shakespearean-style sonnet, the other a free verse narrative. One is playful and perhaps a bit irreverent, the other a bit tragic with underlying humor. One looks at a what-if Shakespeare scenario, the other a personal journey with thoughts of stardom
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Do you have an original theater-related poem? If so, you are invited to submit to the Poetry Corner and help celebrate the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s 90th Season and all the other Southern Oregon theaters that enrich our lives with a variety of dramatic, comedic … sometimes musical and sometimes not … productions. See below for how to submit.
Poetry is alive in Southern Oregon!
Here are some upcoming events for your consideration:
Poems of Reckoning and Reclamation
Hidden Springs Wellness Center
1651 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland
7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 28
Poetry will be presented by spoken word artist Shoshana Alexander. She will read the poetry of Jane Hirshfield, Ada Limón, W.S Merwin, Mosab Abu Toha, Joy Harjo, Mary Oliver, Langston Hughes, and others.
Poetry readings will be interwoven with music by cellist Kris Yenny and
Indian bamboo flute and percussionist Aharon Wheels Bolsta.
Suggested donations of $20-$25, with a portion of the proceeds to be given to a local nonprofit dedicated to the well-being of the Earth.
Poetry Reading
Bloomsbury Books
290 E. Main Street, Ashland
7 to 8 p.m. Monday, June 2
Kathleen McClung is the author of five poetry collections including “Questions of Buoyancy” (Longship Press, 2024). Others include “A Juror Must Fold in on Herself,” winner of the 2020 Rattle Chapbook Prize, “Temporary Kin,” T”he Typists Play Monopoly” and “Almost the Rowboat.” Winner of the Morton Marr, Maria W. Faust, and Rita Dove national poetry prizes, her work appears widely in journals and anthologies. In 2024 she was a finalist for San Francisco poet laureate. Guest editor for The MacGuffin in 2021-23, Kathleen teaches English at Skyline College, where she directed the annual Women on Writing conference for ten years. She also teaches for San Francisco State’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) and privately. http://www.kathleenmcclung.com
“Kathleen McClung may be the finest poet writing in form today. Questions of Buoyancy is a remarkable collection…. Wistful and haunting, these exquisite poems deserve to be read and reread.” –Jim Daniels
Amy Miller’s “Astronauts,” a chronicle of two sisters and addiction, won the Chad Walsh Chapbook Prize and was a finalist for the 2023 Oregon Book Award for Poetry. Her full-length poetry collection “The Trouble with New England Girls” won the Louis Award from Concrete Wolf Press. Her poems and essays have appeared in “Barrow Street,” “Copper Nickel,” “Missouri Review,” “North American Review,” “Terrain,” and “ZYZZYVA,” and she received a 2021 Oregon Literary Fellowship. She works as a communications editor for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and serves as poetry editor for JPR’s listeners’ guide, Jefferson Journal.
Sonnet, with Doughnut
By Dan Kaufman
Will Shakespeare likely didn’t start his day
with doughnuts. Not rectangular. Not round.
No Crispy Cremes in Stratford, so they say,
which lead to consequences quite profound.
For had the Bard been writing amply sugared,
his stormy, tangled tides might well’ve ebbed.
Sprinkled maples? —yum! —goodwill is triggered
and plotters likely weave less toxic webs.
Too, Will might’ve scribed more lyric endings,
his newly sweetened lips attuned to kisses.
Alas, playgoers nod their heads pretending
they abide his tragic character’s near misses.
With daily doughnuts fried in butterfat,
Will could’ve quilled a lasting hit…like “Cats.”
Dan Kaufman has lived near Jacksonville since 2013. His poetry has appeared in Jefferson Journal, Sudden Meteors, Verseweavers, Windfall, Sky Island Journal, Pan/de/mik, Fireweed, Poeming Pigeon, and been recognized by the Oregon Poetry Association and the Southern Oregon Poetry Prize. He’s been a featured poet at the annual William Stafford Celebration at Southern Oregon University. Dan facilitates a monthly poetry open-mic at the Talent, Oregon library.
The Perfect Producer
By Ruth Wire
My seventeen-year-old artistic director
who looks like Roddy McDowell
appraises me at fifty.
“You can’t wear polyester!” he screams.
“You’re the producer—”
Since everybody knows he’s a genius,
I let him direct me.
“Throw this lime green dress of your mother’s away.
From the back, you look seventy.
And your hair—who does it?”
“Don’t make me go to the beauty parlor,” I beg.
“They always make me cry.”
So he goes with me to be sure
I get a good haircut; they blow it dry.
“Now you need some 8x10s,
but first let’s go shopping.”
At Pennys, he follows me in to try on bras.
“Get ‘em up there, baby. You look good. Buy that one.”
I buy four.
“Boots—black leather boots
and that skirt; do you see what I mean?
Feel the fabric on your skin.”
“But this skirt is forty percent polyester—”
“Who cares?” he cries. “It feels like wool.
Now, for Christ’s sake, if you don’t like jeans…”
“I hate jeans—my stomach hurts when I bend.”
“So don’t wear them.”
“Thank you!”
“Wear overalls.”
“Overalls?”
“You’re the type.”
The overalls cost a fortune and have a fancy label.
But I have to admit, I feel twenty years younger already.
Two blazers to go with the skirt, and I’m wardrobed.
“Your eyes disappear,” he suddenly announces.
“What kind of makeup do you use?”
“Just a little lipstick for color, and they chap.”
“Wrong! You’re gonna ruin the picture.
Do I have to teach you everything?
Think of the whole picture.”
Then his long nervous fingers smear my face
rubbing it away, painting, molding, lining–
“There.” And there I am.
My eyes are ringed with lashes I didn’t know I had,
the planes of my face dramatically shadowed for gauntness,
with rose on the cheekbones.
“All you need is a big white hat,
sunglasses, and a black suit.”
He’s made me into Marlene Dietrich.
“You go too far.”
“You can’t go anyplace without going too far,” he says.
Then the photo session, and it’s recorded for history.
But is he finished? “Now you look good, but listen to me,
a producer is someone to fear…the money person,
the one who can give or take away.
Everyone looks to the producer, but nobody
ever gets to meet her. She’s always too busy.
She’s mysterious. I get orders from her
and she can crack the whip–
if she says we have to stay under budget, we do–
if she says we have to fire an actor, we do–
she’s a bitch.”
“Forget it,” I say. “You know me—I carry a coffee pot around,
and peanut butter cookie crumbs line my pockets.”
He laughs. “Not anymore. I want you silent. You will not say one word.”
“The hell with you.”
“Shut up, bitch. Who’s directing this?”
“I look great, and it’s been loads of fun, but—”
“You want to keep on cleaning toilets and running yard sales
or do you want to sip martinis in your black suit and white hat,
showing your good legs—I swear Marlene Dietrich would cry
if she saw your legs—your legs turn me on.
You’re beautiful! Live it! Live it!”
His eyes are full of tears, and he’s clutching my hands.
We stare at each other. I love him. I love him.
We cling to each other.
“All right,” I whisper. “All right.”
Ruth Wire has had an uncontrollable writing addiction since she was 11. She is a published poet, published novelist, and a credited screenwriter. She has written 14 screenplays. She is a published short story writer, produced dramatist, lyricist, and co-ran two theatres in Ashland in the 1980s. She has won awards for stage and screenplays and wrote the book and lyrics for a musical. She runs The HayWire Writers Workshop. “HayWire,” the anthology was published in 2005. She is a retired RN and grandmother. Her play, “Spit in the Beer” will be produced Off Broadway soon. Her fondest dream is to have her screenplay “Batty” produced.
Poetry Submissions Welcomed!
You are invited to submit original work to the Poetry Corner. There are only two restrictions: First, poems need to show a connection to Ashland and/or Southern Oregon. Your interpretation of that connection is fairly loose! Second, poems need to be aligned to the left margin. The publishing platform used by Ashland.news has issues with the creative use of space! There are no length restrictions but try to keep your poems to no more than 30 lines. Be sure to include the title of your poem, your name as you would like it to appear, the city or town in which you reside, and, if you wish, your preferred pronouns.
To submit poems, send to Barry Vitcov at [email protected]
