Berks Bards: September 2023

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Feast by Jane Edna Mohler

October's Featured Poet isJane Edna Mohler

Feast

I love the fat of summer, flabby

green weeks when weeds lap

over the vague rims of back

roads, just as batter overtakes

a griddle. Poplar leaves wave

wide as cows’ tongues slurping

syrup-thick air. Here, summer spits

when it talks, gulps cold milk

and wipes a hand across its mouth.

I want to stuff myself full

with warm fields, hills tender

and round as yeast rolls bathed

in butter. Oh to scoop the ooze

of June’s soft eggs, consume

this season, lick its juices, chew

salty bacon days.

One Art: A Journal of Poetry first publication September 3, 2023Jane Edna Mohler | jane.e.mohler@gmail.com | www.janeednamohler.com

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Jane Edna Mohler is Featured Poet for First Thursday Poetry

Join us for First Thursday Poetry
Thursday, October 5th from 6:00 - 7:45 p.m. for1st Thursday Poetry Open Mic at Goggleworks Center for the Arts201 Washington St., Reading Meeting Place: Studio 238 berksbards@gmail.com https://berksbards.blogspot.com/

October's Featured Poet is
Jane Edna Mohler

Jane Edna Mohler is a Bucks County Poet Laureate Emeritus. She is the 2016 winner of Main Street Voices, a finalist in the Robert Fraser Competition, and second place winner in the 2023 Crossroads Poetry Contest. Recent publications include Gyroscope, Gargoyle, River Heron Review, One Art, and New Verse News. Her collection Broken Umbrellas was published by Kelsay. She is the Poetry Editor of the Schuylkill Valley Journal. www.janeednamohler.com

Donate & Make a Difference—

Berks Bards has thankfully survived a hard world since 2020, both as an organization and in budgetary-speak, with state arts grants impacted initially by economic impacts of COVID-19. As a local 501(c)(3) nonprofits in Berks County, Pennsylvania, with reach well beyond just locally since 2020, Berks Bards gratefully welcomes donations via PayPal. Donate via PayPal Donations.

Donations as checks can be written to Berks Bards and mailed to Vanessa Helms at 100 Hemlock Drive, Fredericksburg, PA, 17026.

Support to our nonprofit allows us to be able to keep our community impact through poetry advocacy going. We thank anyone who is able to contribute, whether now or in the future.

About Us Poetry-Types

We are Berks Bards, a grassroots poetry group and nonprofit meeting on First Thursdays of each month at 6 pm at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts at 201 Washington Street, Reading, PA 19601. These monthly poetry readings include a featured poet and a community open mic.

We also host a Second Tuesdays open mic at 6 pm at Aladdin Restaurant at 401 Penn Avenue, West Reading, PA 19611.

We are excited to be able to return to some live programming! Please look for an upcoming announcement about our April event. Our March open mic night will continue to be virtual as planned.

In April, we celebrate National Poetry Month through what we call Bard Fest, poetry workshops, readings, musical collaboration performances, and other types of events around Berks County.

To contact us, email berksbards@gmail.com.