Yesterday afternoon I went to a poetry reading, in the Veneta area- west of Eugene, that was sponsored by Groundwaters Publishing http://groundwaterspublishing.com.

For 10 years Groundwaters published a quarterly literary magazine but now puts all the effort into a yearly edition, and this reading was a celebration of their 2nd Annual Issue. Their tagline is “Bubbling up in our own good time”.

The reading site was a Grange Hall/performing arts center at a former elementary school site. The little auditorium was perfect for this event and I’m sure everyone appreciated the tiers of seats that allowed all to see. And the use of a microphone is always appreciated. I didn’t read this year but enjoyed just listening to others.

Works are contributed by amateurs and professionals and include fiction, non-fiction, essays, poetry, artwork and photographs.

I have five pieces in this year’s publications, several poems and a short essay. The following is one of my poems.

Oxford Dictionary

Lest we lose our sense of belonging to
and coming from the land,
let us keep the words that name
what we love—the forests,
the meadows and streams,
the flowers and birds,
the echoes and sunbeams.

Let us drink deeply from snowbroth,
restore vigor to our jargogled brains,
and camp in a heather-filled mountain glade
To recuperate from a long hike.
let us prepare dinner at twitter-light
and plan tomorrow’s climb up the arête.

Afterwards, I want to go spangin’ along the trails,
collecting forgotten words.