Tuesday March 9th, 7 pm

Poetry to Song – Writing Lyrics

How do words make it from poetry to song lyrics? Poet Bruce Dethlefsen will read from his recent poetry and along with musician Bill Orth will entertain and inform the audience about methods of song writing. They call themselves Obvious Dog, taken from Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Marilyn Taylor’s description of ” a poem beyond resuscitation.” Bill plays guitar and bass and Bruce percussion, bass and harmonica. They make music and sing original songs.

Tuesday April 13th, 7 pm

Hobo Signs: In The Poet’s Eye

Patrick Moran will read from his recent manuscript on Hobo Signs, “Tell a Pitiful Story” and give a talk on Hobo signs and how they evolved over time.

D.A. Powell of the Boston Review says: The collection Moran has been writing for the past three years, “Tell a Pitiful Story,” originates in the language of outsiders, the subculture of itinerants known as “hobos.” Reading the lines and shapes of hobo graffiti, Moran does more than merely translate them—he gives us a glimpse into a world where telling a story can get you a meal and a place to sleep, where “what you trust / gets in the way / of what you feel,” and where the worst fate is complacency, marriage, the house out of a fairy tale. Better to move on, to outdistance one’s own diminishing, to court danger but never to wed it. This is a world where motion supplants emotion, where we continue forward and avoid our own reflection, where one succeeds in life by appearing destitute. It is, in fact, a pitiful story in so many ways. Be certain to check the poets pages for Patrick Moran’s bio and sample poems.

Tuesday May 11th, 7 pm

Poetry Collective Reunion

The five poets who formed The Foot of the Lake Poetry Collective will gather to read their poems and prose. Sandra Ahrens, Judy Barisonzi, Paula Sergi, John Walser and Mary Wehner will celebrate five years together at our last reading of the season.