Hailed and lauded as the world”s foremost spoken word performance and slam poet, Patricia Smith has easily transcended any label placed on her. Four time National Poetry Slam Champion, Pulitzer Prize nominee, journalist, playwright, poet – her work lifts off the page to take root AND wing, living in a way that many poets dream their work will do. You”ll read in many places that Smith”s work is rooted in the birth of slam poetry in 1980s Chicago, but that”s a simplistic history. If slam had never existed, her work would still have found its audience – it”s just that powerful. There”s no denying, though, that she is a consummate Slam and performance artist – her poetry and performance blend into a perfect seamless whole where it is impossible to separate one from the other.

I had the pleasure and the honor of competing against Patricia Smith in poetry slams nearly a dozen years ago when the genre was still new and fresh. There is no describing what she does to a room, no words to explain the transformation that takes place when she steps up on the stage -whether that stage is the front of a high school classroom, or a formal stage in a crowded auditorium. She opens her mouth and becomes the poem that she is reading. Her subjects range from mythology to music to current events to the heart of a mother to the silent pain of the undertaker preparing yet another young victim of the violent streets for viewing. Her poetry hits hard and takes no prisoners, whether you read it or she does. Smith has the gift of moving in and out of voices with seamless artistry, stepping into the shoes of another and making that other live and breathe with such vitality that you too can walk in their shoes and become them for the space of the poem. She takes confessional poetry and turns it on its head, confessing in the voices of others with such realism that you forget the writer and see only the poem.

Smith”s first book of poetry in over a decade is due for release in the coming months. Teahouse of the Almighty is a winner of the National Poetry Series award, selected by Edward Sanders. You can pre-order the book through Amazon.com – and I suspect it will be well worth it. For those in the New England corridor, Patricia Smith will be doing several feature readings at some of her old haunts in the upcoming month or two. Keep your eyes peeled for dates at the Java Hut, Reflections Cafe and the Cantab Lounge in Worcester, Providence and Boston.

You may be wondering what a book of Cole Porter lyrics is doing on a bookshelf devoted to poetry. Lyrics, after all, are often seen as the redheaded stepchild of legitimate poets – which is a darned shame. The best of song lyrics often outshine lyric poetry in their timeliness, artistry and piquancy – and Cole Porter was a consummate lyricist with a sharp, quick wit and a mind that twisted words into pretzels and left you wondering at the deftness of his handling. Which is why I was thoroughly delighted to run across this review of Cole Porter Selected Lyrics. The collection of Porter”s lyrics is selected from over 800 songs by Robert Kimball, an historian of the American theater, and is part of the American Poetry Project – which should say something about whether or not the lyrics can be considered poetry. Other poets in the series include John Berryman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gwendolyn Brooks, Samuel Menashe, Theodore Roethke and William Carlos Williams – rarefied poetic company for one whose poetic form begs the question of whether or not it is actually poetry.

In truth, though, Porter”s lyrics are the epitome of light, satirical verse. He was the master of invoking depth through frivolity, and his verse compares favorably with that of such satiricists as Dorothy Parker and Lewis Carroll. Says reviewer David Barber,

What”s striking, though, is how many numbers in the Porter songbook still have a way of getting under the skin, imparting an emotional depth and psychological complexity seldom heard before or since on the bandstand or the jukebox. Even at this late date when God knows, anything goes, Porter”s needling commentary on social proprieties and irreverent treatment of sexual politics has lost practically none of its post-Freudian edge and antipuritanical bite. No lyricist with so light a touch ever packed so powerful a punch.

Porter”s lyrics hold their own on page, though as Barber pointed out, they”re even better when they have the music. Still, just in case you start thinking that poetry is serious, dire stuff, a little Cole Porter on the bookshelf is a good thing to have. It”s de-lightful, it”s de-lovely, it”s de-licious and it”s totally poetry.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Tony Brown”s continuing column at GotPoetry.com. In addition to Zero Point Zero, Tony hosts an open mike reading at the Reflections Cafe in Providence every Tuesday night, has work featured in 100 Poets Against the War and numerous other places and is just one of those poets who spreads the word – spoken or written. So what”s all that got to do with a Hollywood blockbuster-to-be? And why is this book on Monday”s bookshelf?

Because back in March, Tony posted a poem at GotPoetry called – you guessed it – Snakes on a Plane. You can read it here, but you”ll need to register. Do it. It”s worth it – not just for Tony”s poem, but because the site is just that good. But I digress. Getting back on track… a link to Snakes on a Plane ended up on Snakesonablog.com, where it sparked a whole series of Snakes on a Poems. I told you, Tony spreads poetry wherever he goes. The movie will be released August 18, but the book, Snakes on a Plane: The Guide to the Internet Ssssssensation, which contains Tony”s poem along with a smattering of others, is available now from Thunder”s Mouth Press, or at Amazon.com. It may not tell you where to sell your poetry or help you write better poetry, but sometimes a book is just good plain fun – like, you know, Snakes on a Plane.

As often as I”ve mourned the loss of poetry venues here, noting how sad it makes me to click a link to a poetry journal or review or ezine or other publication, only to find that the editors have stopped publication, this announcement brings me a great deal of pleasure. Not only do I get to announce the birth of a new review of poetry, I got to attend its christening party and hear many of the poets included in its inaugural issue read their own work. Ballard Street Poetry Journal is so new that the web site is still under construction, so fresh that the poets included can still fit into one air-conditioned, coffee-infused room to kick off the inaugural issue with a party.

The love child of editor and poet Heather MacPherson, the first issue of Ballard Street Poetry Journal includes poems by Tony Brown, Ted Blackler, Bob Gill, David MacPherson, Sou MacMillan, Joyce Heon, Emily Ferrara, Chris Mellen, John Gaumond, Carolyn Howe, Tom Ewart, Christy Howard, Tom Carroll, Diane Mackiewicz, Jenith Charpentier, Elain Bentley Baughn, Curt Curtin, Laura Vookles and David Keali”i. They are, as MacPherson describes them, diverse voices, ranging from the strength of Tony Brown”s plain spoken poem “Small” to the rich images of Ted Blackler”s “Let the Water Follow”. Each piece is a delight to read – and it was more a delight to hear so many read in their creators” voices.

But there is more to Ballard Street Poetry Journal than the collection of poems presented in the inaugural issue. It is, as Dave MacPherson said when introducing his wife, the editor, to read one of her own poems, “So many of us talk about doing something, think about doing something, plan to do something. Well, Heather”s gone and done it and that”s why we”re here.”

Heather MacPherson has indeed gone and done it, and “it” is worth holding onto. You can order your own copy of the inaugural edition of Ballard Street Poetry Journal directly by writing to

Ballard Street Poetry Journal
P.O. Box 3560
Worcester, MA 01613

Issues of Ballard Street Poetry Journal are also available at several Central Mass bookstores.

Single issue price is $6. Subscription for a year is $10. Submissions may also be sent to the above address, but check the web site at Ballard Street Poetry Journal for reading periods and submission guidelines.

I know, I know – it”s not Monday. I ended up taking a short, unexpected vacation earlier this week, and for that I apologize to those that had got used to reading the bookshelf, markets, Wedensday”s Poet, resources and featured blog on their regular days. I”m playing catch-up today with the Not-Xday editions of my usual daily features. If you”re looking for summer reading, then, this is my Not-Monday edition of the Poet”s Bookshelf.

The Poetry Reader”s Toolkit (Marc Polonsky) is a handbook for those who READ rather than write poetry. In easy to understand language, Polonsky takes the reader by the hand and leads him (or her) through the intricacies of reading verse. In the process he demonstrates how open and accessible poetry can be, when viewed with the right set of tools. This easy to read guide shows students how poetry conveys emotion, introduces them to different imagery, explores sound, covers metaphors and similes, and explains verse forms, line breaks, and numerous other poetic devices. By explaining the tools that make poetry through examples, Polonsky shows you how to “deconstruct” a poem, taking it apart to read through the layers of meaning. If there is one book out there that should be on every bookshelf, not just those of the poet, this book is it.

Polonsky is not, as one Amazon book reviewer said, your typical high school English teacher – and this book is not your typical poetry text. It is a book by a man who believes that, in his words, “poetry is about as essential as air”, and sets out to prove it to the world with his passionate declarations. If you want to see poetry in a new light – not just poetry, but poems, not just poems but your favorite poems – then this book by Polonsky is a must.