First Tuesdays |||

The Cento Zoom Edition for April 7, 2020

First Tuesdays went virtual for National Poetry Month! We held our reading over Zoom and it was, by all accounts, a success. Sokunthary Svay, our featured reader, shared an essay about Cambodian food and culture that was also a lovely meditation on identity. She also read a couple of poems for us from her book Apsara in New York.

One of the virtues of going virtual was that we got a chance to see and hear from people who might normally not have been able to attend First Tuesdays. Lynn Oestreicher, who was a regular way back when we were still meeting at Terraza read during the open mic, as did Celest Woo (a future feature), whose (and-not-just-because-I-blurbed-it) lovely book, Frost Fair Dance, you should check out.

We also managed to compose our usual cento, which this month comes from the work of: Peter Marra, Marty Levine, Dan Fleshler, Celest Woo, Barry Fruchter, Lynn Oestreicher, Bob Ward, Chris Robin, Patricia Carragon, David Siller, Norman Stock, Henry Sussman, Micah Zevin, Susan Weiman, Liz Lara.

The Zoomed Cento

I
As we approach the shadows of banshees from the marble buildings,
he might get into tricks
or, God forbid, politics.

II
The masked woman who fearfully,
carefully delivers my mail,
letting music buoy each movement,
still marveling at wintry wonders
immortal as roaches,
and many times more determined.

III
Hot tears drip south.
He looks through the peephole, and doesn’t see the grim reaper.
He says, That’s not enough!
This daddy needs new shoes

IV
The kitchen or the toilet,
not sanctuaries for escape.

It is difficult, this menu of many choices.
That’s how it is. That’s how it is.

V
This slow simmering ragu, people and Gaia,
they cling to fear like packing tape.

VI
Tattered blue cover with stained ink:
the smell of earth startles me.

Many thanks to David Siller for acting as our Cento Scribe.”

Up next First Tuesdays Presents Sokunthary Svay First Tuesdays Presents Antoinette Brim
Latest posts First Tuesdays Presents Martine Bellen First Tuesdays Presents Sokunthary Svay The Cento for April 2, 2024 First Tuesdays Presents Sam Peterson The Cento for September 12, 2023 This Video Was Made From the May 2, 2017 Cento The Cento for May 2, 2023 First Tuesdays Presents Andrea Carter Brown The Cento for April 4, 2023 First Tuesdays Presents Nandana Dev Sen First Tuesdays Presents Elizabeth Wood The Cento for March 7, 2023 The Cento for February 7, 2023 The Cento for January 3, 2023 First Tuesdays Presents Shams Momin First Tuesdays Presents Steven Paul Alvarez First Tuesdays Presents Jason Schneiderman The Cento for October 4, 2022 First Tuesdays Presents Elizabeth T. Gray, Jr. The Cento for September 6, 2022 First Tuesdays Presents Jacqueline Jones LaMon - September 6, 2022 Two First Tuesdays Regulars Read An Incarcerated Writer’s Work as Part of PEN’s & The Poetry Project’s BREAK OUT The Cento for December 7, 2021 First Tuesdays Presents David Mills First Tuesdays Presents Alex Segura The Cento for September 9, 2021 The Cento for March 2, 2021 First Tuesdays Presents Lola Koundakjian First Tuesdays Presents Eugene Lim First Tuesdays Presents Christina M. Rau First Tuesdays On Zoom Presents David Rothman