February 7, 2019

The meeting  began at 6:00 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT: 

Al Koch, Sharon Palmeri, Katherine Flotz, Amy Brailey, Tim Phillipart, Hardarshan Valia, David Wilgus, Bev Stanislawski, Gail Galvin, and Lisa Groszek

 

Visitor:  Mike Ripley

  

OLD BUSINESS:

A vote of approval for the January 17, 2019 minutes was first given by  DAVID WILGUS and seconded by MIKE RIPLEY

NEW BUSINESS: 

 Meeting March 7 and April 4:  These two meetings will be held in the Public Library in St. John.  Address:  9450 Wicker Ave, St John, IN 46373

LITERARY NEWS: 

ADAM SEDIA:  Adam won first place in the Classical Poet’s Contest with a prize of $1,000 for his poems entitled “Arise You Bones”, “To Xi”, and “Let None Dare Call It Beauty.”  Congratulations, Adam!

HARDARSHAN VALIA:  Valia’s essay entitled “A Particle in Perpetual Motion” got three acceptances.  He had it published, along with his poem “Scene at the Poetry Recital Venue” in River Babble at http://iceflow.com/riverbabble/issue34/P-34-VALIA.HTML.  The poem he read today, entitled “Imprint on Bench of a Bus Stop” was published in Poetic Medicine in the section where Poets Respond.

TIM PHILLIPART started Savoy Publishing.  He shared the process of starting your own publishing company with the group.

  

READINGS:

HARDARSHAN VALIA read his poem “Imprint on Bench of a Bus Stop” which he wrote in response to a request for poems addressing the #MeToo Movement.  It is a free verse poem about a snowflake blending with a victim’s tears, leading to the lack of shape of the snowflake reflecting the lack of voice of the victim

TIM PHILLIPART read four free verse poems.  The first, entitled “Under Le Pari sien,” plays with the title of a Paris newspaper as it describes a young couple who use it to block the rain as they cuddle on a cold day.  The second, “Limitations” describes a man gazing in awe into his lover’s eyes, fear-filled with the knowledge that he will hurt her.  “Negativity” and “Permanent Pose” laughingly take a look at our recent arctic weather as they look at responses to the Polar Vortex.

AL KOCH read “To Be a Turtle” chronicling his journey from being the slowest reader in the class to being one of the best.  His mother’s encouragement to look for the good in everything helped him, even years later, to discover that a turtle takes risks in everything he does.  That’s what makes him great.

BEVERLY STANISLOWSKI touched on the themes of Valentine’s Day, reading a Petrarchan Sonnet (Rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA on the initial Octet with a shift in the subject and the introduction of 2-3 new rhymes on the last sestet.  Bev used CDCDCD).  “Looking for Love” in true Petrarchan theme tells of a lover’s decision to leave a false love for one that is true and worthy.  “When Love Found Me” is a Pantoum—a type of Malaysian folk poetry with rhymed quatrains (Sets of 4 lines) in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza become the first and third lines of the next.  This poem shares of the ecstasies of true love (perhaps the one searched for in the previous poemJ.)   

DAVID WILGUS read a portion of his book entitled A Cross to Bear.  This section contains the introduction to Chad and Cindy who meet at a high school dance.  Both have a difficult past—Cindy has a controlling ex-boyfriend while Chad has a past history of racism based on his experience getting jumped by an African American. 

GAIL GALVAN read a short story entitled “Red Rover, Red Rover! 51^st Place Flashbacks,” which reflects on the childhood of those of us who grew up before the 2008 technology boom, when fun was had through pick up ball games in the neighborhood, the joys of the ice cream man, and the care of a loving family.

LISA GROSZEK read another section of her novel Becoming Memorable. (The story of the camera that captures its subjects.)  In this section, we are in modern day where Ryan and Abby stumble on the camera which Ryan chooses and a painting for Abby. 

The Meeting Adjourned at 7:50

Respectfully submitted by Amy Brailey