Back to The Parkside

 

 

The stage lighting  gives me purple hair and the audience is kind...   

as Karen Kelsay hosts the annual poetry reading in NYC at The Parkside Lounge. 

 

There's nothing like hearing a poem in the voice of the poet, live and in person. I'll be there with my Muse in a Suitcase in hand! 

"To Do or Not to Do"

To Do or Not to Do

                for Alex

 

There’s a hole in my to do list

which lets me peer through

to the other side of importance

where a murmuring stream

of consciousness 

breaks down

what is timebound

like water eroding rock

continuously…

the so-called future

mapped out

like geography

becoming flimsy

while the lay of the land

below my windows

shows a gathering of violets

risen from their rhizomes

covering ground better than gossip.

  

~LCMH 

  

 

[Poem was requested by my daughter Alex for her yoga teacher training. Thanks to The River Yoga community in Five Points, Denver for including it as part of their "200 Hour YTT Teach Out" class!]  

Thank You, Linda Pastan

Here's my selection for National Poetry Month this April––Linda Pastan, former Poet Laureate of Maryland, my home state. The cover here is from her book Carnival Evening, which offers many of her writing wonders. 

Enjoy "The Bookstall"––one of my favorites. She passed away in January. And her voice is ever-present. 

Tip for Tip

This young man offering poems by donation in Washington Square Park––an old haunt of mine as a graduate student at NYU––has given me an idea. 

 

I tip my hat to you, for showing up, for stopping by and reading a poem or two. The ones posted directly here, as well as the ones published by journals shared via links, are all freely given, without compensation. If you feel like dropping a tip in my hat, to pay for a cup of tea, perhaps, I thank you for this kindness! My Venmo is @Charise-Hoge. 

 

Cheers,
Charise

"Flashback"

It's perfect timing that the poem "Flashback" appears in the March/April issue of Cathexis Northwest Press, and that I get to share this news with you on International Women's Day.

 

You'll find my poem on pages 12 & 13. This issue is free to read with the following link:

https://www.cathexisnorthwestpress.com/mar-apr-2023

Where We Left Off

Porto, Portugal

 

The book may be complete, but the travel resumes––

Portugal, for the first time, and Europe, for the first time since 2019.

 

“Anointed”

Topical Poetry has kindly published 

“Anointed/for Tyre Nichols”  

in record time. 

        https://www.topicalpoetry.com/anointed/