Don Yorty

Winter Paintings by Joan Eardley

Joan Eardley painted children in the slums of Glasgow and then lived in Catterline, a fishing village nobody went to. She found beauty in the often shabby common present. It is what I admire about her. The paintings below … Continue reading →

Greg Masters reads from It Wasn’t Supposed to Be Like This

16 Jan ’21

A year ago, I heard Greg Masters read new work at the Parkside Lounge. The poems he read then are now published in It Wasn’t Supposed to Be Like This. The art work on the cover by Ava Fedorov … Continue reading →

Michael Ruby reads from The Star-Spangled Banner

6 Jan ’21

Michael Ruby is not only a poet, but a journalist who works as an editor at the Wall Street Journal where he is involved with the news—whatever it may be—right there in the thick of it from day to … Continue reading →

The Prologue

2 Jan ’21

What better way to start than at the beginning. These will be the first poems in my new book, Fucking and Other Poems, which will be published soon by Indolent Books. Till then Enjoy. words are birds … Continue reading →

On Reading Max Turns Yellow by Martha King

29 Dec ’20

When I look back on my life as a reader, there are particular books I remember with pleasure because they drew me in as soon as I started them. Tom Sawyer was one, and Wuthering Heights—much to my surprise—was … Continue reading →

Francine Witte reads some Charley Poems

27 Dec ’20

I’ve heard Francine Witte read her Charley poems on several occasions, and I’ve always enjoyed them, so it had been on my mind to ask her to read them for the blog. Charley is a man (the many men) … Continue reading →

Hound Dog

27 Dec ’20

Hound Dog, a twelve-bar blues by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, was first recorded by Willie Mae Thornton on August 13, 1952 in Los Angeles. I, whose birthday was on August 15, would have been turning three at the … Continue reading →

Sparrow reads from Small Happiness and Other Epiphanies

9 Dec ’20

It’s the little things, the good word, the bon mot that come down to us. “Festina lente,” the Emperor August used to say: “Hurry slowly.” Words I try to live by. Other words to try to live by can … Continue reading →

The 17th Annual Brevitas Reading

29 Nov ’20

It has been several years now since Tom Savage asked me to become a member of Brevitas, an online poetry group that posts fourteen line poems, or shorter, twice a month, on the first and the fifteenth. It is … Continue reading →

The Water’s Work Song

16 Nov ’20

I wrote the words to this song when I was twenty-three; it came in a burst of writing three other songs as well, just the words, not any music. Over the years as I learned to play the guitar (always … Continue reading →

Rosemary Cappello reads from Wonderful Disaster

15 Nov ’20

In Philadelphia, Rosemary Cappello—since the 1970s—has edited magazines, organized readings, and published books by Philadelphia poets, helping the poetry scene to thrive there. When she sent me a copy of her book, Wonderful Disaster, I was moved by her memories … Continue reading →

Ron Kolm reads from Swimming in the Shallow End

1 Nov ’20

Ron Kolm gives a lot of energy to the current poetry scene in NYC. He adds to his archives at the NYU Library, continues to publish others at The Unbearables, and collaborates with artists and writers, too, recently editing Brevitas … Continue reading →