Hobnobbing with the Philosophers: Poetry Month Wrap &The Evening in Silk

Detail from “The School of Athens”
a fresco by Raphael (1483 – 1520)
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By Maik Strosahl

What a month! I just love to participate in as many poetic events as possible in April for National Poetry Month. And with the project I announced in my “Ghosts of the Allagash” post, it turned into an adventure.
    I made a sign and took it with me while handing out the origami booklets I mentioned a few weeks ago. I figured to start at the Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City. Ken Gierke joined me—he is the poet who gave me the origami poetry booklet that started my efforts. We were there for one hour and twenty minutes, exhausting our supply of 65 copies between us. We also had some amazing conversations. One man we talked to slept there with the homeless near the library in preparation for his Appalachian Mountain adventure.
    An older woman who took our booklets and said she would read them later came out of the library a few minutes later. “Which one of you is Michael?”
    Not sure of the reason behind her inquiry, I slowly raised my hand.
    “I just love this poem! I was there, I lived this poem. You have been to Washington state!”
    I explained that the poem and another in the booklet (“The Rising” and “La Push” from “Poemegranate: Drama”) were inspired by photographs taken by my friend David Hartley from Seattle. She shared her stories of adventure, traveling as a photographer herself.
    I intended to spend the next day on the steps of the Capital building, but I needed to print and fold more booklets. I did get to go the Monday after Easter, but it was a day off for the civil servants, so I ran into only a few people. I did take the opportunity to explore and photograph the grounds and building.

    I went to poetry readings in Belle, Jefferson City, and even up in my original home community. On April 16th, I spent the day handing out poetry booklets in Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline, Illinois—my home town. I also got to visit with my parents for a few hours. Then, that evening, I got to join a Midwest Writer Center event at a Rock Island bar called Rozz-Tox. It was my first poetry reading in the Quad Cities. I had brought 90 booklets and I departed empty again. In preparation for that weekend, I had also finished a third booklet, titled “Poemegranate: Echoes.” And I sent my template to poets in Michigan and Indiana who were planning to participate in a similar fashion.
    The next weekend I returned to the Missouri River Regional Library to meet with Ken Gierke, Michael Brownstein, and Cory Adamson. All three are also handing out origami booklets. On the 24th, I got to go to the Gumbo Bottoms Ale House here in Jeff to join a group I have really enjoyed getting involved with these last few months. It was here that I had handed out my prototype booklets at the beginning of March.
    On the final weekend of the month, I got to go to Anderson, Indiana, to participate in the Poetry Society of Indiana’s Spring Fling. What a wonderful day! I got there early to stand outside the Anderson Library. I had over 120 booklets for this—all printed on my tired ink jet printer, all hand folded—and returned with just a handful, which I left in various places on my trip back to Missouri.
    A highlight of the program was a presentation done by a teenage poet named Hannah Michel, who did very well with over 30 poets on hand, leading us on exercises to expand our poetic thought. I saw her take a copy I had left of the latest booklet, and after the presentation I approached her, thanking her for the enthusiasm she showed for poetry. I then told her that I had made that booklet, asking if I could exchange it for one that I thought was more special. I pulled out a copy of the same booklet, signed and marked “500th Copy.”
    When I started this project, I bought a ream of 28-pound paper and wondered what I would do with the rest of the ream once I was done with this project. I had figured to put out maybe a hundred or so copies all month. At present, 530 copies of the three booklets are in circulation.
    It has been a wonderful month! And I am not done with these booklets. More to follow soon.
    One thing for sure—I need more paper!

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I first saw a mimosa tree in 2018 while in South Carolina on a training load. In the States, it is also called a Persian or Chinese silk tree or a Lankaran acacia, even a bastard tamarind.
    I love these trees! In addition to the beautiful blooms, the leaves slowly close at night and during rainfall. Its modern Persian name means “night sleeper,” and in China it has a common name of “hehuan” which means “shut happy” and symbolizes a happy couple in bed.
    When I moved to Missouri, I was thrilled to find one just a short walk down the road I live on. I captured several pictures of it, but since I am not good at manipulating photos, it took three months to capture a real champagne colored sunset behind it.
    I used that photo and a little poem I created to go with it for the cover of the third origami booklet I started handing out mid-April, “Poemegranate: Echoes.”

The Evening in Silk

I’ll be waiting for you at the end of the day, to sip the mimosa from a champagne sky, until we fade to the shadows and you fall asleep on my shoulder.

Copyright © 2023 by Maik Strosahl Michael E. Strosahl has focused on poetry for over twenty years, during which time he served a term as President of the Poetry Society of Indiana. He relocated to Jefferson City, Missouri, in 2018 and currently co-hosts a writers group there.