Well, I meant to write something about the event that we had at the Looking Glass, 601 West Main Street in Carrboro. It has taken me till now to really write something about the event… no reason, it just happened like this.
Anyway, I am interested in seeing more events in the Chapel Hill area where a person can go for poetry and such. That’s how it started out and now I’m glad that music is becoming a part of these events. So, I started a Meetup called “Chapel Hill Poetry Events,” which can be found here. Again, things change, and that’s why Music is not in the topic area for this meetup.

This past Saturday we had 50% music and 50% poetry. Janet Bratter and John Fallon provided the music. Bruce Whealton, myself, and Cal Nordt read poetry. I think that we both have a poetry style that aims to be brief and concise. In that vein, Both Cal and I shared a number of haiku. Haiku being traditionally 17 syllables, on three lines. Personally, I’ve learned that haiku do not need to have exactly 17 syllables or be on exactly 3 lines. I don’t suppose the book is shut on defining what a Haiku is and is not. For Word Salad’s publication “Haiku Ramblings, we do publish a definition and our understanding of what Haiku is, in terms of what we want to publish. That information is here. Please read the other articles under Submission Guidelines to get a better idea.

So, we will have more events coming up. I scheduled a Poetry Workshop Meetup for the 14th of March at the Looking Glass. Details are here.

You can find my poetry by me at: http://brucewhealton.us

Hosting a Poetry and Music Event – It seemed impossible

Shy and Terrified!

What was I thinking?  That was going through my mind Saturday the 27th of February, 2010. Hosting an event! Being MC! This is insane! To say I was nervous is quite an understatement. It was a little embarrassing. I mean my shyness was apparent and I wasn’t handling it well, or so it seemed.

Some said that maybe I am not really shy!  If they could only see me that night!  No one would doubt that I am profoundly and greatly shy.  Some think that shyness is something that you just grow out of… you learn certain things and eventually, right.  In the thinking of said folks, this learning is inevitable.  And if the learning is inevitable than eventually what made one shy cannot continue.  If you only saw me this last Saturday night, you’d never question for a second that I am a very shy person.

I wanted this to go right and to go well. I was nervous, and uncertain… I didn’t know what to do. I knew I had to do something. Yes, I wanted this to happen, but I, oh, so didn’t want to host this. Talk about an understatement!

One might question how shy I was… I did read after all. I did use that microphone… but how I get out of it? I suppose the pre-teen boy that I was would have run out and hid behind whatever tree he could find. Maybe I’m not that shy. Is it really a matter of quantity? Whatever one might want to call that experience, and my reaction, my feelings and actions… I wish I didn’t feel the way I did and do.

One of the fellow presenters, said I should I tell the people at the cafe, face to face, at their tables, that we are about to have a poetry reading and music presentation. I said, “I can’t do that.” She insisted and challenged my use of the word “can’t.” I never figured out how to get the nerve up or figure out how to go about this venue approaching strangers and talking to them about what we were doing.

Through some miracle, and that’s what it was, this went off well. However, if anyone doubts that I am shy and that is the most genuine thing I can ever say or state, that person who doubts my shyness isn’t so in touch with reality… I assure you that if you were here as I found myself in a situation of hosting an event, you’d have no doubt that I was indeed a painfully shy person.

Wilmington based poets Joe C. Miller, Bruce Whealton and “Just Jeff” Wyatt were featured at the Fortner Writers’ Forum at St. Andrews Presbyterian College Thursday night beginning at 8 p.m. This was a great honor for myself, Bruce Whealton. I really enjoyed the event and felt I had one of my best readings and did one of my better readings of my poetry.

Jeff Wyatt, Ron Bayes, and Joe Miller

Caitlin Johnson, Office Manager/Editorial Assistant, St. Andrews Press, announced each of us. All of us were invited by Dr. Ron Bayes, writer-in-residence and professor at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, NC. Dr. Ron Bayes is well respected and well recognized in the field of poetry and creative writing.  To the right he appears with Jeff Wyatt and Joe Miller. Below is Caitlin Johnson.

Caitlin Johnson - Organizer/Announcer/Planner