The Writer's WordShop

Terrance Oberst was the overseer of last night's hour long poetry reading. Terrance, a published poet, facilitated all participants reading from selected works.

Below, is Silence by Terrance. All poetry listed in this blogsite is copyrighted by the poet. For reprints, please contact the poet.

Silence
Terrance Oberst

We tell time by the sun,
squabble when the moon ascends.
If we could we would worship
the massive revolutions
of the stars,
we would wish again and again
to be loved or at least
touched by a flicker
of compassion.

I remember that my lover
has been gone for three days.
I know she has returned
from her hegira
wiser and kinder
from her communion
with the cauldron
of nature.
And I tremble
from her observation
that the darkness
underlying the forest
will see no light,
but within its presence is also
the unlit, burning bush
of the cosmos.

Jill Arias speaks in front of an attentive crowd. Jill added background music, low and melodic, to her poetry reading.

Brain on Fire
Annie Arias (nom de plume of Jill Arias)

the ultrasound of the normal brain
sliced left and right, front and back
mocks the brain with the candy-coated shell
orange and red M&M’s melt in your brain
not in your hand

what a relief to have confirmed
what I always knew
something not quite right
with the way I think
compared to others

the harder I think, the harder I fall
embarrassed I shut down
and take a back seat
to watch Lazarus’ sisters
Mary and Martha bonding in my brain
the laid back lobe tells the frontal
don’t count on me
cuing Martha who heats up, talks incessantly
compensating for her lazy sister
“hey,” Martha cries, “hey, hey! Don’t you care?
I’m working alone here!”

I care
I feel the fire in my forehead
frustration flaring behind flesh and bone
like the flame of an Olympic torch
handed off from one lofty idea to another
until finally the crowd applauds as one
and the real game begins.

Cynthia Heier is a long-time member of the WordShop. Her work also appears in Celebrate, a poetry anthology published by the University of Nebraska-Omaha Program on Women and Aging in 2007.

Ken Langness, a WordShop poet, graduated from UNL in the spring of 2006. Ken has published one poem and a story in Laurus, a university magazine.

Poetry Reading Tonight

Don't forget to come to the art space at the Loft at the Mill to enjoy the poetry reading between 6 pm and 7 pm.