John Bell and David Iribarne
and Narwhal
at Hot Poetry in the Park
Please join us on Monday, August 19, at 7 p.m.
for Hot Poetry in the Park at Fremont Park, 16th and P, Downtown Sacramento.
Plus open mic and free pizza.
Host: Rebecca Morrison
John Bell earned an MFA from Wichita State University and is now a professor and co-department chair of English at American River College. His poetry has appeared in Thorny Locust, Teaching English in the Two-Year College, and the anthology, Burning the Little Candle (available from Ad Lumen Press).
Earthly Roots by John Bell
Grandpa Pete,
Mostly Scots-Irish,
Called them spuds,
Ate them with anything—
If I know my grandmother,
Dripping with grease.
I have only heard this:
He turned in his Bell credentials
Six months before I picked up mine,
Struck by a city bus in Omaha,
His circulation already gone.
I take my father’s word for it.
Grandpa John,
Half German—
Of the other half he said,
“Damn English—never talk to you”—
Ate potatoes with anything.
Prepared any way,
Once fed them to my sister and me raw,
Like he used to give us ham fat,
Cutting them on the brown cutting board
In the kitchen of the house on Wellesley Drive
In a suburb of Detroit tradesmen.
They were crunchy, moist, and good
Because he gave them to us.
Now, when I buy potatoes
I think of both of them:
Two men who only met once,
At my parents’ wedding,
Probably not a potato to be found
In the whole reception hall,
And wonder about what
Comes from the earth
And returns.
David Iribarne earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from CSUS. He currently resides in Sacramento. He has had several poems published in Poetry Now, Tule Review, Sussurus, Catchword, Medusa’s Kitchen, Primal Urge, WTF?!, and has had work in The Creating Freedom exhibit on domestic violence at the California Museum. He also won second prize in Sacramento News & Review’s student poetry contest in 2005. He also has a piece published in SPC’s Sacramento Anthology, Late Peaches. He has written one poetry book entitled Bones. Skin, and Soul and a chapbook entitled Soul of Love. He has a chapbook on the subject of domestic violence entitled Silent Screams and a new book, You Gave Me Your Shadow, which was recently made available in 2013.
Dark Love by David Iribarne
Something sexy about showering
in the dark having your hands touch
every inch of my body.
Naked skin touching
lips moist every time they
kiss my breast, smooth every time
they move slowly down my forehead
to my cheeks to neck.
Something electric about your body
being that close to mine
in the blackness.
I am able to light a fire within you
as I trace every corner of your body
with my fingers.
It almost feels sinister
as I hear you moan and scream
but then ask for more.
I can smell you
I can taste you
I love having to search you out
find out what I love most about you.
Being able to go over spots
of you over and over
just to find the spot you and I love most.
No words spoken just love.
I know that there’s something sexy
about showering with you in the dark
and I know that there is
something forever beautiful
about loving you blindly.
Narwhal is a progressive rock & folk band from Sacramento which loves to blend diverse musical influences from a variety of sources and which always aims to both move and surprise its audience. Band members Bob Wilson (Bass, Guitar, Mandolin), Miles Miniaci (Keyboards, Percussion), Peter Tjeerdsma (Guitar, Percussion), and David Battino (Electronics) share vocals and songwriting duties, and between them, they have decades of experience in various local bands. One of those bands, Litany, has played at SPC numerous times, so although this is Narwhal’s first performance at Fremont Park, it feels like coming home. [https://www.facebook.com/narwhaltheband]
