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The views expressed herein are the personal views of each individual author or commenter and are not intended to reflect the views of The Ojai Post or its Authors, Tribal Core or Tyler Suchman as managing editor.

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Language sliced open

I attended an inspiring poetry reading tonight in Ventura at the Artists' Union Gallery by our own, Robert Peake.

Robert has a calm, focused and direct stage presence that captivated the standing room only crowd. I was thrilled to see so many people come out for poetry on a Tuesday night! And thrilled to be out on a Tuesday night since I'm usually at home with my family.

Robert read a bunch of poems ranging from a euology to poet, Stanford Lyne, to poems about the loss of his young son, to childhood memories growing up in the border town of El Centro, California, to a couple of his own translations of Neruda and Machado (brilliant!). To top it off he ended the night with some hilarious poems about a carrot and a turnip and their vegetable cohorts. Hope to see more of that series in readings to come.

Robert, maybe you could post a poem or two ?

Posted by Leslie Davis on April 25, 2007 12:23 AM | | | Language sliced open

Comments (4)

Sorry I missed it. I was at city hall. When the city manager started his power point presentation on finances, I left. I couldn't take it. I prefer poetry to crass materialism, although money can also be beautiful when used in the service of love.

Comment #1 Posted by: Dennis Leary | April 25, 2007 09:52 AM

Thanks so much for the kind (and most unexpected) writeup. And especially for coming out on a weeknight - no easy feat with kids at home.

Rather than put up some poems here in text, I can do better - to get a feel for some poems read aloud, check out Radio Ojai:

http://www.radioojai.com/

and scroll down to the interview I did with Lisa last December. Nothing like words in the mouth.

Thanks again for your kind words, and most of all for being there.

Comment #2 Posted by: Robert | April 25, 2007 11:50 AM

I had never been to a poetry reading before last night. I'll admit I always envisioned half-baked, finger-snapping hippies at these sorts of things, and of course I was totally proven wrong (darn!). Seriously, Robert, thank you for extending the invitation. I enjoyed all of your poems, especially "Carrot." Will you be publishing anything for those who might want to purchase your work?

Comment #3 Posted by: Lisa Snider | April 25, 2007 02:27 PM

Thanks for your support, Lisa. Part of the intention of the MFA program I am studying in now is to pull together a cohesive first book of poems. I have a wide range and variety of work right now, only some of which you heard last night, and am looking to really explore what it means for a book of poems to stand as their own artistic experience - something more than a collection, but building up on certain themes into a book you'll want to own and re-read as a whole. So, stay tuned as all that unfolds and thanks again for your interest and support.

Comment #4 Posted by: Robert | April 25, 2007 09:25 PM

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