CREATIVE COLLOQUY OPEN MIC

Troy reads three related poems during Creative Colloquy's Open Mic. Photograph by Creative Colloquy.

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The soundtrack prior to the reading: Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age. "A Song for the Dead," "First It Giveth," "God Is in the Radio," and "A Song for the Deaf."

The beverage for the reading: Coca-Cola made with real sugar (instead of high fructose corn syrup) in Mexico.

The location: Honey at Alma Mater.

The host: Creative Colloquy.

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There were five featured readers at the January 2020 Creative Colloquy event, followed by about a dozen or so people signed up for five-minute slots during the open microphone portion of the evening. I read three related poems based upon the death of King Saul on Mount Gilboa at the hands of the Philistines. A few lines from each of the pieces I read follow.

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from "Gilboa"

"Saul stands atop Gilboa // and Samuel’s words clamber / up the mountainside // following its rivulets and ravines // like dark demons summoned / forth from the land of the dead // seeking the retreating king."

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from "Ahinoam"

"weaver of a world that unravels / upon the blades of Philistines // esh meets flesh become ash / baked into our daily bread // your tears as though those cried / by the Lord your God"

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from "Psalm for Gilboa"

"I will pluck a tender twig from the Tree of Life / and plant its ferny flag on the peak of Mount Gilboa— / at the exact spot where Saul fell upon his own sword / when I withdrew my favor, my spirit, from him."

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My poems felt a bit out of place, when I considered some of the other pieces read during the evening, but I read them as though they were meant to be there.