Hey come on down to Canton for an enjoyable poetry night this Friday. I had visited these folks a year or so ago and found the energy amazing. These kids try real hard and there is poetry competition with cash prizes for incentive. If you don't want to compete, there is an open mic for you to join the fun without the pressure. (and all you old hands should let the kids go for the money anyway)

I should add that I'm featuring and will do some new stuff that have I never read in Ohio before.

The reading is in the basement of the Second April Art Gallery (they have coffee) 324 Cleveland Ave. NW Canton, Ohio 44702. Come on, it isn't that far!

I'm going down to the Velvet Tango Room tonight at 6:00pm to see what's going on. For $25 I'll drink champagne, eat Bac food, and find out what Russo has to say. Might even see a few celebs.

Such a deal!

Buddhism is just so naturally me.

"What is like a silent fart, although invisible it's obvious? One's own faults, that are precisely as obvious as the effort made to hide them...What is like body odour - easy to acquire, but hard to lose? Habits picked up from people whose lives are far from truth." -The Seventh Dalai Lama

Kelzang Gyatso,
The 7th Dalai Lama
(1708-1757)
reigned 1720–1757

One of the reasons Nick, Andy, and I discontinued the regular poetry readings at the Lit Café, was because we were anchored to the second Thursday every month. Sure the consistency made sure everybody knew when and where, but sometimes some of the best poets could not make it that night, at that time. One of those fine poets was Russell Vidrick, who’s second shift job prevented him from featuring, but often made it to round out the open mic.

Therefore, the Literary Café Panderers, Prognosticators, and Poem Prelates are proud to present Russell Vidrick and the introduction of his latest book, “Love Poems of the New World Order” on Saturday May 15 at 9:00pm. We are so honored that a poet as great as Russell would want to launch the collection of his love yawps for his wife, Charlotte, at the place where we love them both as well as his poetry.
Most of you, including the readers from the out flung reaches of American, should already know of Russell Vidrick. He has been a mainstay in the Cleveland poetry scene for decades. The well regarded poet has been in every major underground anthology that sprouted out of Cleveland and has hosted readings at the Café Noir, Red Star, and now at the Brandt Gallery here in Tremont. Besides “Love Poems for the New World Order”, his last chapbook was “Dueling Poets” with Jim Lang, a frequent collaborator of his. The best way to know Russ is through his poems, I will review “Love Poems”

“Love Poems for a New World Order,” put out by The Language Foundry, is a tactile delight. It was printed on quality paper that has a natural texture pleasing to the fingers and with various watermarks to subtly break up the monotony of black print on light beige. The layout and type keep the reader comfortable without lulling. The photographs by Charlotte Mann on front and back covers, give a film noire sensibility that contrasts with the “New World Order” title and promises contents that moves and provokes thought.

And inside we find that Russ’s style reminds the reader of 8th century Japanese poetry with characteristically simple descriptions. Short lines are reminiscent of Hemingway or Bukowski, yet are not staccato, but have warmth that invite the reader to continue similar to Leonard Cohen. It is so obvious throughout this book that he is very much in love with Charlotte and that the change in his life has been profound. Homebody Russ mentions Mexico, Turkey, Amsterdam, Greece, Egypt, all places Charlotte has visited and a few that Russ finally has seen firsthand. He describes the new joy in eating white rice, laying his head on her chest when sick, and sleeping with a wife when the world’s troubles continue. His tone is such that he is as amazed as the rest of us of his good fortune. This is an easy read and an inspiring one where the reader joins in the happiness in Russell new life and is envious of it.

So come down the Literary Café Saturday May 15 at 9pm and listen to a happy man that has to tell someone how happy he is or he’ll burst. There will be an open mic afterwards so that you can get a chance to tell us how happy you are. Copies of “Love Poems for a New World Order” will be available as well. The Literary café is located at 1031 Literary Road in the happy-go-lucky Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland.

Tuesday, I am going down to vote and am officially changing my affiliation from republican to democrat. Yup. I have finally given up on the GOP. It was such a nice party a hundred years or so ago. I have definitely been abandoned ideologically even by the moderates like Christy Todd Whitman . So F You teabaggers, neo-cons, dumbshit pundits, Fox news, trickledown fascists, and corporate free marketers (as long as I get the free cheese, Camembert if you please). Don't know if the Dems are right for me, but this way I can vote for Brunner over Fisher in this primary and work more effectively for Tim Russo for County Council district 7.

I guess this means the end of my moratorium on political blog writing I made about 4 years ago. Click above and donate to Jennifer Brunner.

Gone but not forgotten. You could say that about the readings at the Literary Café, as cliché as it is. But remember, there were readings in the 90’s way before Nick and I got it into our soft craniums to do it ourselves. And we promised that there will still be readings, just irregular (as if the readings were ever regular). That is irregularly scheduled. So there are readings, but not necessarily poetry, just like in the early day of ancient tape recordings. Back in those ancient days of irregular readings at the Lit Café, there was a giant that shared his early writings regularly in an irregular manner. He has been gone, but definitely not forgotten. He is back and reading from his near ancestor this Saturday April 17 at 9:00pm. This inspiration for local writers is none other than Michael DeCapite.

Mike is celebrating the reprinting of his recently gone but not forgotten father, Raymond DeCapite’s two novels, A Lost King and The Coming of Fabrizze, by Kent State’s Black Squirrel Press. Also accompanying him is Dennis Dooley, an author, former Public Radio broadcaster and journalist and winner of the 1986 Cleveland Arts prize in Literature. Dennis will provide some historical context for Ray's republished work, while Mike reads excerpts of his father’s books. Maybe we can get him to read some of his own writing as well. It is all of the finest quality.

Since Mike has lived in New York for a good part of the last decade, you Tremont newbies may not be aware of the accomplishments of this southside son. His first novel, Through the Windshield, was written in London and New York from 1985 to 1990. Although the book gained a small underground reputation by way of published excerpts, readings, and word of mouth, it was unable to find a publisher until it was brought out by Sparkle Street Books, in 1998. DeCapite's short story "Sitting Pretty" was published as a CUZ Edition in 1999 and then included in The Italian American Reader (William Morrow 2003, HarperCollins 2005). During 2003 and 2004, he wrote Radiant Fog, a column for the monthly Cleveland arts magazine Angle. In 2006, he completed a second novel, RUINED FOR LIFE!.

Raymond DeCapite was a fixture in Cleveland since his birth in 1924. He drew on his family and his community heritage as inspiration for his books. A graduate of Cleveland public schools, DeCapite received both his B.A. and M.A. from Western Reserve University, while working as a shipping clerk, a restaurant employee, a cashier, and a crane oiler. His published novels were The Coming of Fabrizze, A Lost King, Pat the Lion on the Head, Go Very Highly Trippingly To and Fro, and The Stretch Run. He wrote three plays: Sparky And Company, Things Left Standing, and Where The Trains Go. He was a recipient of the Cleveland Arts Prize, the Ohioana Award, and the Cleveland Critics' Circle Award. Ray passed in July 2009.

The Literary Café once again is the center of Cleveland’s literary world, past and present. With this celebration of one of our past writers by one of our present writers, we inspire our future writers. So come to hear genius Saturday, April 17 at 9:00pm. The Literary Café is located at 1031 Literary Road in the unforgettable Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland. This reading is sponsored by Visible Voice Books, another Tremont monument.

This Thursday, I'm saying the hell with taxes and going to the Dolan Science Center at John Carroll Univ to listen to Paul Muldoon. In case you don't keep up, he's the guy that keeps sending me rejection notices from the New Yorker. TM Gottl did a nice job introducing him in her column on the Cleveland Examiner Should be a good time and some good poetry for a change without all the drama that occurs at poetry venues.

The show is at 7:30 Thursday April 15.

PS It is free as opposed to Mary Oliver's $30 reading tonight at Playhouse Square.

After I explained Haiku while slurping Ballantine at the Prosperity Social Club, man about town, John Corral, quickly jotted this three line gem on a cocktail napkin. You never can tell where or when you run into talent, lubricated by alcohol or not.

In front of mirror,
I want to tongue bathe my balls.
I look amazing.

Genius!