STANZA ROOM ONLY @ MEET AT 66 KING

It was stanza room only last Thursday evening as the Cobourg Poetry Workshop assembled another monthly poetry reading gala at the faux grand salon at Meet at 66 King Street. It is a wonderful place where the local better poems and garden set gather to indulge in refined eloquence blended with the finest pirouettes of soliloquy.

The feature poet was Mick Burrs, the poet formerly known as Steven Michael Berzensky. In 25 words or less, Mick was born in the USA, became a conscientious objector to the Vietnam war and arrived in Canada to enrich us with poetry ever since.

Mick delivers his poetry in a subdued voice; the strength of his words do not require volume. Much to my personal delight he turned tovarishch and introduced the richness of Russian poets Osip Mandelstam and Anna Akhmatova, then launched into his own poetry, especially a short poem of Stalin, in which he briefly delineates the cruel horrors of his deeds then ends the poem with Stalin’s hand lovingly stroking a grandchild’s hair.

(Can we imagine today how lovingly Muammar Gaddhafi might be embracing his children each night, strongly, as if it were the last time that he could hold them?)

The evening began with some Chinese language lessons of the first order. John Stubbs provided a handout to the audience which presented excerpts of the Tao Te Ching written by Lao Tzu. The handout was a brilliant device because it contained not only the Chinese characters, but also their transliteration as well as a translation in such an eloquently colloquial manner that the audience could get it. This was supplemented by Wayne Shlepp who read the Chinese in his own voice with impeccable clarity.

The evening concluded with a powerful and emotional performance by Deborah Panko, a Cobourg poet who has been acquitting herself since letting her inner poet chirp and sing and pirouette on very branches of poetic expression. Deborah’s voice is unique and distinctive from the illuminati literaturistas of the Local Lot. She has a full bodied laugh indistinguishable from a mortar.

The poetry reading at Meet at 66 King was sublime compared to the rowdy poetry reading two evenings earlier at Art Bar in Toronto. It was the last time that Art Bar will be holding its venue at Clintons on Bloor. Next month it will be at Paupers Pub, just down the street. But I’ll tell that story later this week with video to match.