Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic on Zoom Featuring Leah Mueller August 12, 2021

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic

Featuring Leah Mueller

Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

7 pm

Thursday, August 12

On Zoom

$5 Suggested donation

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST,

ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Please support Niche Wine Bar, whose owner, Leah Jackson, provided a home for the reading series from 2015-2020: https://nichewinebar.com

Leah Mueller is an indie writer and spoken word performer from Bisbee, Arizona.  Her most recent books, Misguided Behavior, Tales of Poor Life Choices (Czykmate Press), Death and Heartbreak (Weasel Press), and Cocktails at Denny’s (Alien Buddha) were released in 2019. Her latest chapbook is Land of Eternal Thirst. Leah’s work appears in Rattle, Midway Journal, Citron Review, The Spectacle, Miracle Monocle, Outlook Springs, Atticus Review, Your Impossible Voice, and elsewhere. Check her out online at www.leahmueller.org or www.twitter.com/leahsnapdragon.

NOTE: This month’s reading will take place on Zoom. Email christopherjluna@gmail.com by no later than 3 pm on August 12 to indicate your interest in participating. In the subject line, let us know if you are “Reading” or “Just Listening.” You will receive instructions for how to join the meeting.

Open mic readers are invited to share one poem for three minutes or less. 

If you are willing to donate to support the series, please use Christopher Luna’s PayPal account (christopherjluna@gmail.com) or contact him to make other arrangements. Include a memo stating that the money is for Ghost Town Poetry. The suggested donation is five dollars.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic on Zoom Featuring Andrea Hollander July 8, 2021

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic

Featuring Andrea Hollander

Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige

7 pm

Thursday, July 8

On Zoom

$5 Suggested donation

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST,

ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Please support Niche Wine Bar, whose owner, Leah Jackson, provided a home for the reading series from 2015-2020: https://nichewinebar.com

Andrea Hollander moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2011, after living for more than three decades in the Arkansas Ozarks, where she was innkeeper of a bed & breakfast for 15 years and the Writer-in-Residence at Lyon College for 22. Hollander’s 5th full-length poetry collection was a finalist for the Best Book Award in Poetry from the American Book Fest; her 4th was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award; her 1st won the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize. Her poems and essays appear widely in anthologies, college textbooks, and literary journals, including a recent feature in The New York Times Magazine. Other honors include two Pushcart Prizes (in poetry and literary nonfiction), two fellowships in poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the 2021 49th Parallel Award in Poetry. In 2017 she initiated the Ambassador Writing Seminars, which she conducts via Zoom. Her website is http://www.andreahollander.net.

NOTE: Due to circumstances beyond everyone’s control, this month’s reading will take place over Zoom. Email christopherjluna@gmail.com by no later than 3 pm on July 8 to indicate your interest in participating. In the subject line, let us know if you are “Reading” or “Just Listening.” You will receive instructions for how to join the meeting.

Open mic readers are invited to share one poem for three minutes or less. 

If you are willing to donate to support the series, please use Christopher Luna’s PayPal account (christopherjluna@gmail.com) or contact him to make other arrangements. Include a memo stating that the money is for Ghost Town Poetry. The suggested donation is five dollars.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Morgan Paige March 11, 2021

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Morgan Paige
Featuring Morgan Paige

7 pm
Thursday, March 11
On Zoom

$5 Suggested donation

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST,
ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Please support Niche Wine Bar, whose owner, Leah Jackson, has provided a home for the reading series since 2015: https://nichewinebar.com

Morgan Paige is a poet, visual artist and entrepreneur residing in Kalama, WA. Her first poetry chapbook and poetry album, Lick the Psychic, was released October 2019 by Lightship Press and recorded by Shady Pines Media. It takes you on a playful, chanting ride, exploring themes of femininity, psychedelia and the life/death/life cycle. Get your copy at: morganpaigepoetry.com

In her spare time, you can find her performing at the local open mic, experimenting with various art forms, and exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest forests with her black lab, Hoagie. Find her on Facebook and Instagram at @MorganPaigePoetry

Photo by Callie of Shady Pines Media

NOTE: Due to circumstances beyond everyone’s control, this month’s reading will take place over Zoom. Email christopherjluna@gmail.com by no later than 3 pm on March 11 to indicate your interest in participating. In the subject line, let us know if you are “Reading” or “Just Listening.” You will receive instructions for how to join the meeting. Open mic readers are invited to share one poem for three minutes or less.

If you are willing to donate to support the series, please use Christopher Luna’s PayPal account (christopherjluna@gmail.com) or contact him to make other arrangements. Include a memo stating that the money is for Ghost Town Poetry. The suggested donation is five dollars.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Wil Gibson October 8, 2020

NOTE: Due to circumstances beyond everyone’s control, this month’s reading will take place over Zoom. Email christopherjluna@gmail.com by no later than 3 pm on October 8 to indicate your interest in participating. In the subject line, let us know if you are “Reading” or “Just Listening.” You will receive instructions for how to join the meeting. Open mic readers are invited to share one poem for three minutes or less. 

If you are willing to donate to support the series, please use Christopher Luna’s PayPal account (christopherjluna@gmail.com) or contact him to make other arrangements. Include a memo stating that the money is for Ghost Town Poetry. The suggested donation is five dollars.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic

Hosted by Christopher Luna, Toni Lumbrazo Luna, & Morgan Paige

Featuring Wil Gibson

7 pm

Thursday, October 8

On Zoom

$5 Suggested donation

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, PRO-SCIENCE, ANTI-FASCIST,

ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Please support Niche Wine Bar, whose owner, Leah Jackson, has provided a home for us since 2015: https://nichewinebar.com

Wil Gibson currently lives in Humboldt County, California where the trees are big. He has had 5 collections published by kind people, and has been included in a number of anthologies and lit mags both online and in print, such as Marsh Hawk Review, Button Poetry, Midwestern Gothic, Drunk in a Midnight Choir, Cascadia Rising, Collective Unrest, Yellow Chair Review and many more. He has twice been nominated for both a Pushcart and Best of the Net, and currently spearheads the Redwood Poetry Project. You can find links to books and more info at wilgibson.com

Celebrate 15 Years of Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic with Rod “Kenny” Nelson and your hosts Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna at Angst Gallery on November 14, 2019

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Flyer November 14 2019

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Hosted by Christopher Luna​ and Toni Lumbrazo Luna​ of Printed Matter Vancouver​
Featuring Rod Nelson​

7 pm
Thursday, November 14
Open mic sign up begins at 6:30 and closes at 7
$5 Suggested donation

Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
angstgallery.com

Food and libation provided by Niche Wine Bar,
1013 Main Street

Sound provided by Briz Loan & Guitar: http://briz.us/

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Rod Nelson

Rod Nelson is a spoken word poet in Central Washington. Rod Nelson’s work focuses on modern day social issues and addresses the divide between rural and urban America. He was born in Kansas but grew up in Selah, a small town in Central Washington. After completing his education in Seattle, he returned to the Yakima Valley and has lived and worked here since 1979. He was the first- place finisher in the YVCC Black Box Poetry Slam in 2017, and finished second in that contest in 2016 and 2018. He was the first- place finisher in the Litfuse Poetry Slam in 2018 and 2019, and finished second in that contest in 2017. He was a presenting poet at the Ellensburg Poetry Prowl in 2018. His poem “ A Note From Mallory’s Progeny” was one of the winners in the Yakima Coffee House Poet’s Poetry Contest in 2017 and was published in its chapbook that year.

A Failing Grade in Right and Wrong 101

Fifty-eight dead in Vegas
the Dow gains a hundred -fifty
bump-stock sales soar
Senators send thoughts and prayers.

Fifty-eight glass-eyed corpses,
on blood-soaked pavement.
the Hobbesian contract broken again
interview the girlfriend
talk with the brother
autopsy the brain
dissect for answers
but no lobe of morality
no Center for Right and Wrong
just indifferent gray matter
upon indifferent gray matter.

500 years after the birth of the church of reason
evil fairies gone from the town well
demons removed from the plague
but where is our heart?

Our ministers recite Psalms:
Lean not on your own understanding,
but trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Ancient rules,
conceived in mysticism,
chipped in stone,
gave the world faggots for the bonfires of medieval Christendom.
An eye for an eye,
a lie for a lie,
and soon the whole world was ignorant.

Seventeen dead in Parkland
Ten dead in Santa Fe
the sabbath brings eleven dead in Pittsburg.
Our leaders serve lukewarm soup to the survivors,
mirroring our lack of empathy.
And when you stare into the abyss,
the abyss stares back.

But, hey, the bulls are running hard down on Wall Street.
Adam Smith rolls in his grave,
Kant’s categorical imperative rolls its eyes at charitable deductions,
and Jesus asks, where is the love brother?

In an affluent society,
goodness only comes baked in a Sarah Lee Pound cake.
Perhaps Vonnegut was right,
it’s all about moiling for more money,
lusting for better copulation.
Reason,
harnessed by the Id,
to gang-rape the Ego,
outfox the Superego.
Mill’s Utilitarianism blushes.

Gin and tonic golfing
and Wimbledon watching
on the working man’s dime.
College admission bribing
Watergate
deflate-gate
blood-doping
pussy grabbing
gas lighting cover-ups,
cram the victims face in the vomit of her own sorrow,
drag the spouse on Oprah’s stage,
blinking in the glare of the apologetic melodrama.

Born-again sinners!
Just like the johnnies-come-late -to -Jesus
in the God squad pod at the County jail.

Lost in the wilderness,
where is our compass?

Another head -chopping video on the ‘net,
our politicians promise revenge.
An eye for an eye,
and soon the whole world is blind.
In heaven, Jesus and his faithful scribe Mathew shake their heads,
the Dalai Lama grimaces,
and Gandhi’s ghost cries in the night.

500 years after the birth of the church of reason,
the boy who paints rainbows,
the girl who tends her own garden,
still live with the stink of burning flesh.

Our nation,
blessed
with Mr. Smith’s prophesized wealth
but this pearl
as cold and hard as a bullet.
Where has our heart gone?

Printed Matter Vancouver Presents Driven By Hope, the third book of poetry by Toni Lumbrazo Luna/ Book Launch Celebration at Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic July 11, 2019

Printed Matter Vancouver presents A Book Launch Celebration for Driven By Hope
The third book of poetry by  Toni Lumbrazo Luna

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic flyer July 11 2019 cropped

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna of Printed Matter Vancouver
Featuring Toni Lumbrazo Luna

7 pm
Thursday, July 11
Open mic sign up begins at 6:30 and closes at 7
FREE

Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
angstgallery.com

Food and libation provided by Niche Wine Bar, 1013 Main Street
Sound provided by Briz Loan & Guitar: http://briz.us/
LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Cover-Driven By Hope 2019-05-30-promo

Driven By Hope is Toni Lumbrazo Luna’s third book of poetry. It contains glimpses into the lives of people she has met throughout her career as a Social Worker and Life/Career Coach. These poems are based on real life and Toni takes them to new places inside her imagination. Perhaps you will see yourself through her eyes.

BW Toni Lumbrazo Luna by Maria Vara
Toni Lumbrazo Luna by Maria Vara

Toni Lumbrazo Luna (formerly Partington) is a poet, editor, publisher, visual artist, and writing coach living in Vancouver, Washington. She holds a B.A. in Social Work and a M.A. in Humanities and Literary Editing. She’s had a long career in social work, college teaching and administration, grant writing, life and career coaching, and nonprofit consulting.

She is the author of three books of poetry: Jesus is a Gas, Wind Wing, and her most recent, Driven By Hope, released in June 2019. Her poetry has been published in VoiceCatcher (editions 3 and 4), OutwardLink, Poeming Pigeon, Perceptions and more. She was Co-Editor for the final print edition of VoiceCatcher 6. Toni is currently working on her memoir, titled Life in View of the Crazy House.

Toni Lumbrazo Luna by Christopher Luna
Toni Lumbrazo Luna by Christopher Luna

Toni is co-founder of Printed Matter Vancouver, an editing service and small press imprint that publishes the poetry of Pacific Northwest writers. Toni works with poets and writers on their manuscripts, individual poems, essays, and prose. She has also developed business plans, marketing materials, grant proposals, and government reports. She co-hosts the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic, established in 2004 by Christopher Luna.

Toni has been creating visual art since 1980 and in the last seven years has enjoyed the challenge of collage using found materials. She uses both 2D and 3D formats, experimenting with salvaged metals, plastics and anything that is the slightest bit unusual.

Most recently she was nominated to serve on the Clark County Arts Commission representing the business community. Originally from central New York, she’s made the Pacific Northwest her home for thirty years. Toni has been writing poetry since she was ten years old and is still in love with it!

Toni can be reached at printedmattervancouver@gmail.com

SoulFood Poetry Night Featuring Christopher Luna & Toni Lumbrazo Luna at SoulFood Coffee House in Redmond, WA June 20, 2019

SoulFood Poetry Night
Featuring Christopher Luna and Toni Partington

Thursday, June 20, 2019, 7:00 p.m.
SoulFood Coffee House
15748 Redmond Way
Redmond, WA 98052

20 June 2019 (1)

Series Description from host Michael Dylan Welch: On the third Thursday of every month, SoulFood Coffee House in Redmond, Washington, is home to SoulFood Poetry Night, an evening of engaged and engaging poetry. Our performance stage features professional sound and lighting systems in an inviting gallery and café setting in SoulFood Coffee House. Performances are streamed live to the Internet.

SoulFood Poetry Night is curated by Michael Dylan Welch, and has been running monthly since July of 2006 (we held our 100th reading in October of 2014). For more than a decade, we asked one featured reader to select someone else to read with him or her. This process echoed the sense of community and connection that is central to SoulFood Coffee House. This serendipity brought in new voices, and helped to create harmony or contrast in our reading series. Starting in 2016, though, we switched to primarily featuring groups or organizations. Featured readers start shortly after 7:00 p.m. Our featured readers are mostly from the greater Seattle area, but we welcome poets from farther afield as well.

After we have a break to enjoy the bookstore, its art gallery, and especially its café, we have an open-mic reading where we invite you to share your poetry. Just sign up when you arrive and be prepared to read for about three or four minutes each (depending on the number of readers). And the occasional song is welcome, too.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Emmett Wheatfall at Angst Gallery June 13, 2019

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Flyer June 13 2019

 

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna of Printed Matter Vancouver
Featuring Emmett Wheatfall

7 pm
Thursday, June 13
Open mic sign up begins at 6:30 and closes at 7
FREE

Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660
angstgallery.com

Food and libation provided by Niche Wine Bar, 1013 Main Street
Sound provided by Briz Loan & Guitar: http://briz.us/
LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Emmett cropped

Emmett Wheatfall is a published poet, playwright and recording artist. Emmett is the author of six books of poetry and a play titled Under the Red Robin, and has released five poetry CDs. In May 2018 Fernwood Press (an imprint of Barclay Press) published Emmett’s sixth poetry collection entitled As Clean as a Bone. For more information, visit http://emmettwheatfall.com

as clean as a bone cover

Boxed-In

I saw a man with no teeth,
he smiled at me.

I bumped into a woman who had no feet,
she crawled to me.

I hugged a child with no arms; we
laughed until I cried.

A blind man called to me. Why
couldn’t I see where he was coming from?

A homeless man cursed at me,
afterward, he and I shared his beer.

A street-walker propositioned me, I
replied, thank you, but no thank you,

then named that street after her.

Some people are boxed-in. Life is like that
for some.

Life is like that.

Emmett Wheatfall, 2018

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Featuring Nastashia Minto at Angst Gallery March 14, 2019

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic Flyer March 14 2019

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic
Hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Lumbrazo Luna
of Printed Matter Vancouver

Featuring Nastashia Minto

7 pm
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Open mic sign up begins at 6:30 and closes at 7
FREE

Angst Gallery
1015 Main Street
Vancouver, WA 98660

Food and libation provided by Niche Wine Bar, 1013 Main Street
Sound provided by Briz Loan & Guitar

LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY, ALL AGES, AND UNCENSORED SINCE 2004

Nastashia Minto Head Shot

A Georgia native who currently lives in Portland, OR, Nastashia Minto has performed at the Unchaste Readers Series, Neon Dream, Incite and various other reading series in the metro area. She has also appeared on KBOO Radio’s Talking Earth. Her writing has been published in SUSAN and in the forthcoming Unchaste Anthology Volume III. Nastashia’s first book, Naked, was published by Eldredge Books in February 2019.

Note: Nastashia and Eldredge Books will launch Naked with a reading at Another Read Through (3932 N Mississippi Ave. Portland, OR 97227) on February 28.

Nastashia Minto Naked Cover

Ask Me …

Ask me of the mistakes I’ve made, and let me pull back the layers to my truth. Many false narratives, but I’m the original carbon proof. DNA soaked in cocaine and booze — don’t know how my genes survived, but ask me of the mistakes I’ve made. I still hold her truths, although she tells many lies. I cry, we cry, she cried, but she said we were all a mistake. Maybe after one, but after three, take responsibility for their place, your place, our place in this world. Forgiveness seems to fall off trees like leaves in the fall, but even in some regions the leaves will stay on the trees, so I guess forgiveness will never fall. Ask me of the mistakes I’ve made. I’ll be the first in line, raised hands to account for all the shit I’ve put you through. Ask me of the mistakes I’ve made. You preached forgiveness but forgot I came from you

Nastashia Minto