News from the Poetry Society of South Carolina —
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This week's Poet of the People is Mary E. Martin. I first met Mary in either Rock Hill or Charlotte at a poetry reading put on by Jonathan K. Rice. She has facilitated some of my readings in Rock Hill and has journeyed to Columbia to read for the Mind Gravy Poetry series. She is a elegant poet who writes from a gentle, graceful place. Rock Hill, South Carolina is blessed to have her in their midst.
-Al Black
Mary E. Martin is a poet, dancer, and teacher at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. She
grew up in the west and the south, preferring the rich landscape of the south. She explores a
fusion of text, movement, and music in community performance projects she has developed in the Carolinas. Her poetry has appeared in many journals, including The Kansas Quarterly, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and The Southern Poetry Review.
At the University Inn
As a student waitress
I served Denise Levertov
breakfast—she drank tea,
not coffee.
I almost spilled
my adoration, but her reverence
for the moment stopped me
from recalling the spell
her reading had cast--
only her poetry
breathed, her images
sacred, almost palpable
renderings of the inner
paradise we know exists.
I kept the check slip
she had signed,
taped on a wall
near my desk,
an artifact that lasted
as many years as it took
for me to realize
beauty’s minutiae
is just as sublime
as what we claim
breathtaking.
My Dog Looks Up at the Moon
Late night he pauses
on the deck, doesn’t howl
but quietly stares
at the bright curve above,
his big head, black and white
sixty-pound hunter body
more a still life, a whisper
between dog and moon,
he listening as the moon
tells him he is a being
who loves, a love
that can travel anywhere,
a dolphin splash love;
he wishes he could swim
to the moon, lick her
powdered white cheek, sleep
overnight in a velvet smooth
crater, dreaming an unknown
tenderness, then slip back
down just as I awaken;
mythically happy to see
him again, I kiss him
and feed him breakfast.
Folk song
I like to howl with my dogs
in our own backyard Olympus,
out-sounding the sirens
by blending our voices.
Without judgement or fear
I like to howl with my dogs;
we are neither dog nor human
out-sounding the sirens.
Crooning welcome tears
without judgement or fear
I stretch out my neck;
we are neither dog nor human.
I stand erect as they do
crooning welcome tears,
eyes toward the clouds
as I stretch out my neck.
A pack of screeching troubadours
out-sounding the sirens,
no better heaven than ours
than when I howl with my dogs.
Flint
I sit on my couch
waiting for a spark
of an image, just enough
to keep me writing
in my small house, on a quiet
street, Flint Street,
the only sharp edges
the barking dogs
in almost every house.
My words, the hard quartz tools
I rely on to shape the world,
are like the rough tools
tribes relied on to survive
in the wild brush and windowless caves.
I think of the steel that strikes
flint into fire, angry voices
of a small Midwestern town
shouting out their abuse,
the City of Flint forging
their words into a hard
refusal, to be more than
their namesake’s core,
to be the unshadowed
flame of the heart.
El Paso
When I was young and shy
The dark brick scrubbing
our hands when we grazed the body
of homes on the army base
as we darted everywhere to find
a place to hide. We played at night
with flashlights, the fat tree trunks
our gathering place, the touch
of the bark friendly rough.
Later we lived in an off base adobe
cuddled all around by bushes,
bushes full of secret
spaces I quietly lingered in every day.
Walking to school I always hesitated
at the canal, loud water tumbling over itself,
the bridge with no rails the only connector
to the school. I swear I could see loose
animal bodies shoved through foaming
water, wet fur, and bared teeth.
Our father treated us with short trips
over the border in Juarez,
always stopping at the same restaurant;
we sipped orange sodas,
stared at the polished blue and white tiles,
while my father drank beer
or tequila; none of us
ever questioned why always
the same place, the same food.
The cruel misperception
of others, always a lack
of embrace-- the 1950’s shadow
pulled me to hide
and grow where I hid.
New Brookland Tavern welcomes The Woggles with special guests, Brandy and the Butcher, to help celebrate the release of their new LP, Time Has Come on June 12th. According to musician and Jam Room director, Jay Matheson, “The Woggles have been one of the best garage rock bands in the US since the mid 90s and put on a stage show that is beyond compare.”
Check out their new single as well as their new LP in its entirety.
According to Matheson, the show will be a 2 band affair with Matheson’s own local Rock and Roll band Brandy and the Butcher opening.
Cover tickets to the show are $10 in advance and $15 on the day of the show.
Doors are at 7:30 with music starting at 8:30.
See you there!
Read more about the Woggles from Jasper Magazine music editor Kevin Oliver here.
The Koger Center for the Arts is so much more than a ticketed venue featuring the best of both local and touring performing arts. In addition to being the home of the Jasper Project’s Nook Gallery space in the Second Tier Lobby, Koger boasts an impressive collection of rotating and permanent art and offers free performances on the Outside Stage directly in front of the building.
Recently, Koger hosted the multimedia arts troupe, Squonk, on the outside stage and the front lawn was filled with folks on blankets and in lawn chairs enjoying picnics and a free performance by the 30-year-old entertainment organization. And there’s more to come!
Read below for a quick look at some of the FREE ART offered by the Koger Center for the Arts this summer.
Jasper offers the work of new artists year-round (though we’re taking a breather while the Koger gets new carpet this summer), in our Nook Gallery space. Jasper shows run monthly with opening receptions on the First Thursday of every month in conjunction with the Vista Guild’s First Thursday celebrations.
In the Upstairs Gallery Space the Koger Center hosts exhibitions by local artists such as BEAT OF THE HEART through July 1st, featuring local artists Rodgers Boykins, Ryan McClendon, Jeffrey Miller, Keith Tolen and Fred Townsend
In addition to hosting the SOUTHEASTERN PIANA FESTIVAL, a ticketed event, the Koger will also host a FREE LUNCHTIME CONCERT at noon on Tuesday June 11th in the Grand Tier Lobby. (Check out Malik Greene’s visual art in the Nook while you’re up there!)
Make Music Day is a free celebration of music around the world on June 21st. Launched in 1982 in France, it is now held on the same day in more than 1,000 cities in 120 countries.
Completely different from a typical music festival, Make Music Day is open to anyone who wants to take part. Every kind of musician - young and old, amateur and professional, of every musical persuasion - pours onto streets, parks, plazas and porches to share their music with friends, neighbors and strangers. All of it is free and open to the public. Make Music Day Columbia is hosted in conjunction with Rice Music House and is funded through a grant given by the City of Columbia.
This year's Make Music Day schedule includes:
10 – 11:30am Petting Zoo & Ruckus Hour
12 – 1pm Music Lessons with Columbia Arts Academy (Ukelele & Voice)
1-5pm Recitals (Rice Music House and Freeway Music)
5:30-6:30 Drum Circle
Don’t want to leave the house? Check out the Center’s Virtual Tour of Columbia-based artist Philip Mullen’s work from the comfort of your own home.
Philip Mullen came to South Carolina in 1969 and is one of the most renowned artists in the state. His works have been hanging in the Koger Center for the Arts since 1990, filling the space with his pieces that examine light and air. Throughout his art displayed in the Koger Center, Mullen explores the juxtaposition of light and how light touches everything around it. He has been described as creating works with even distribution of thought-out technique and carefree fluidity. From the Whitney Museum to the San Francisco Museum of Art, Mullen’s pieces have showcased his abilities all across America and the Koger Center is proud to house a permanent exhibit.
Philip Mullen Art at the Koger Center is located on all three levels throughout the building.
You may take a virtual tour here for FREE!
“The City of Columbia’s Office of Business Opportunities (OBO) is proud to announce the highly anticipated release of Did You Know? Columbia’s Black Wall Street, a powerful documentary that chronicles the rich history of a Historic Black Business District in Columbia, SC.
Amidst a city renowned for its vibrant culture and thriving business community, Columbia recognized an opportunity to celebrate and elevate the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of Columbia, particularly during the challenges posed by the pandemic.
‘This project marks a significant moment for Columbia. The documentary not only captures the rich history and profound legacy of Columbia’s Historic Black Business District but also celebrates the resilience, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit that define our community,’ said Mayor Daniel Rickenmann. ‘It is a testament to the strength and determination of those who paved the way, and I encourage everyone to join us in commemorating this vital part of our city’s heritage.’
In 2021, 7Sunday’s Deon Generette approached OBO with an ambitious idea – to create a film documenting the Historic Black Business District, often referred to as “Columbia’s Black Wall Street.” Mr. Generette, a native of Johnsonville, SC, is a University of South Carolina Bachelor of Theatre graduate, Iraqi War Veteran, and visionary in the art and entertainment space in Columbia, SC.
The documentary is narrated by Dr. Bobby Donaldson who leads the University of South Carolina’s Center of Civil Rights History and Research in Columbia, SC. Dr. Donaldson lends a powerful and authoritative voice to the project. The film also features the late Elise Martin, who was 108 years old at the time of filming. Despite her passing before the film’s premiere, Elise Martin’s legacy, along with other black businesses thriving between the 1920s and 1930s, such as Leevy’s Funeral Home, Dr. Cooper Sr. Noble, DSS, Palmetto Seafood, DESA Inc, and others, are honored in this documentary.
The film’s premiere will take place at the 2024 Juneteenth Entrepreneur, Film, & TV Extravaganza. The Extravaganza will kick off with an Entrepreneurial Summit with celebrity guests on Tuesday, June 18th, at 10:00 A.M. at 1208 Washington Place in downtown Columbia. The second day of the extravaganza will start with a special children’s matinee premiere of the SCETV Emmy-nominated “The Cool and The Strong” series, which features Coach Dawn Staley and Coach Shane Beamer, at the Historic (sic) Nickelodeon Theatre beginning at 12:00 P.M. Later in the day, enjoy an Oscar Themed Premiere of the documentary at the Nickelodeon Theatre beginning at 5pm. The premiere will be followed by the Extravaganza celebration with catering from Jeffrey Lampkin’s Country Boy and Kitchen, R&B Recording Artist Raheem DeVaughn, Grammy Winning Artist Susan Carol, and nationally known 7Sunday Live Band at the Columbia Museum of Art!
We invite everyone to be a part of these events to continue the story and witness this compelling story of resilience, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit that continues to shape our city.”
Jasper is delighted to share some good news about one of our frequent partners in the arts—Richland Library—and invite our followers to take advantage of this career and community-changing opportunity!
Richland Library is the recipient of a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts under the Grants for Arts Projects category. The funding will specifically support Richland Library’s Artist-in-Residence Program, furthering its mission to foster cultural and artistic exchange within the community.
“These projects exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “So many aspects of our communities such as cultural vitality, health and well-being, infrastructure, and the economy are advanced and improved through investments in art and design, and this funding at the local, state, and regional levels demonstrates the National Endowment for the Arts’ commitment to ensuring people across the country benefit.”
Since its inception in 2015, Richland Library’s Artist-in-Residence Program has aimed to connect the community with local working artists, providing a platform for creative and educational opportunities. The program is designed to support cultural and artistic exchange by giving artists, performers, and makers of all disciplines the freedom to work in their own studio space, share their artistic processes, and engage with the community through a variety of programs.
Richland Library is now accepting applications for the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 residency periods. Interested artists are encouraged to apply by June 6th, 2024. For more information about the Artist-in-Residence Program and application details, please visit https://www.richlandlibrary.com/services/become-artist-residence.
For questions or media interviews, please contact Tacara Young at 803-351-5616 or tyoung@richlandlibrary.com.
This week's Poet of the People is Andrew K. Clark.* I first got to know Andrew after a poetry reading in Hilton Head when I had dinner with him after his reading. He was living in Savannah with his wife, Casey, and preparing to relocate to the mountains of North Carolina where he grew up. He now resides and writes in the mountains outside Asheville. He is a prolific poet and author and is a delight to know.
-Al Black
Andrew K. Clark is a novelist & poet from the Western North Carolina mountains, where his people settled before The Revolutionary War. His poetry collection, Jesus in the Trailer, was published by Main Street Rag Press. His first novel, Where Dark Things Grow, is forthcoming from Cowboy Jamboree Press on 9/10/24. His work has appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, UCLA’s Out of Anonymity, Appalachian Review, Rappahannock Review, The Wrath Bearing Tree, and many others. He received his MFA from Converse College. Connect with him and read more of his work at andrewkclark.com.
beautiful screaming
I tried to quit
I really
did
throw’d everything away
so many times
swore off the makeup
swore off them wigs
I’d go to bed
try to forget everything
squeeze my eyeballs
inside out
but seemed like
it called to me
from in the bin
called me
to put it back on
come stand in front of the mirror, boy
it was hardest when
the sun went out
***
first time I didn’t even
mean for it to happen
I got all made up
& I don’t know why but
I went outside
down there
by the pond
that old dirt road
you know the one
the lover’s lane
there was a car pulled
near the water
and I wanted
to see inside
catch me a peek
of what they was doing
only when I did
the girl seen me
she screamed
screamed so loud
it busted my ears
so loud she shook
the whole goddamned world
and the boy trying to jerk
up his pants
& I fell in love with her
right there
& the sounds she made
I ain’t never heard
nothing so beautiful
& she made me
beautiful too
& she seen me
like nobody ever seen me
& she saw how beautiful I was
& everything tingled everywhere
in the whole goddamned world
the whole world tingling up
its goddamned spine
and down between
its goddamned legs
& I went back the next night
& the night after that
seem like more cars come
down by the pond
like people wanted me to
just scare the living
shit out of them
like it turned
them on too
& I gave them what they wanted
& they gave me what I wanted
all that screaming
them tires spinning the dirt
***
them kids made up
hashtags for me
things like
#clownscare
& #clownopocalypse
& it went on like that for a long time
& I made all the papers
& it was beautiful
till
they caught me
& they put me back
in the home
& they chained me
under the box springs
pumped me so full
of all them drugs
& I love all them drugs
when I’m under
the box springs
pumped full
I can’t remember
who my first-grade teacher was
or where I learned to dress up
or who my daddy is
but I do remember
all that screaming
all that beautiful screaming
& how they seen me
really seen me
for the first time
equine | canine
the horses up
the mountain
went wild, forgotten
by their people
nobody come by
to even feed them
until
they forgot they
were horses
grew as feral
as jackals
fought off bears
killed off the coyote
stayed alive
even during winter
no grass on the ground
teeth grinding
down the trees
they fucked each
other constantly
foals rising from
the dark earth
each spring
they ate their brothers
whose legs fell lame
teeth rounding
sharpening canine
until
their eyes grew large
dark manes matted
no one could
approach them
no one could
pet them
but me
paper dolls
drought and famine and violence and
tinder enough to burn the world down,
and it’s only tuesday. but one thing you
understand is that you got to get right
with god. it don’t pay to wait. you ‘re
on the last verse of just as i am, without
one plea, sister gail keeps playing long
as there are sinners out there and you
better get up, fight your curled up
atrophied limbs, fight your jangled up
trifling, get down front to that altar and
make yourself low before the preacher.
you don’t have to do it, i know.
salvation is a choice. but if you don’t,
you should know a few things. one, the
devil has nightmares too. they wouldn’t
make sense to you because they’re
made up of all the beauty of gods green
spring bright fondling, the way vines
creep under doorways and rise to
choke the tallest thickest trees in the
woods out back. did you know there
are flowers with black spider eye
faces? god made those too. bottomless
night holes that fall for miles, sucking
you in by your eyeballs, pulling fibrous
orange slice chunks from your back,
bent and stretched and uglier than you
can imagine. two, you had no choice
but to do it. you might could’ve
become a preacher yourself, shopping
pinstripe suit catalogues, starching
your collars out in a dingy basement,
pull cord lightbulbs burning your scalp.
you might could’ve earned your keep
on the mission field or in a soup
kitchen but when mama took up that
knife and cut that man across his face
for the way he mocked her cooking,
you ain’t had no choice. three, scissors
and girly magazines in your hiding
place under the skirting of the trailer,
stretched out on the warm dirt, you
found magic powers. kaleidoscoping
girls every which way and that: take
this head and put it on that body, put
these legs under those hips, take her
tits and put them on that one there, and
this one, she should be a dancer, so
change her shoes. so much flesh, so
much sin and skin that you mix and
match in peach and black and orange
and cream - you’re nothing if not
wicked. four, when they found your
stash, pulling back the purple curtain,
they took all your lovers away, best
friends too; you had no choice. sister
gail finished the song, and the preacher
ain’t called for another verse, so thank
hallelujah for lighter fluid, kitchen
matches and sweet sulfur black and
blueness.
Pollination
(after Lindsey Alexander)
My beard is a honeycomb you lick when hungry.
On your way to the icebox,
on our daily hike through the woods,
you can’t help but stop and taste it.
Bright and untamed,
Zizzing like bees
in a white box;
your face stays sticky and
you keep licking your cheeks all day,
even during video calls.
Eventually, you send
a dozen mouths
to extract me,
drip by drop,
while you lie back
and wait to be fed.
*While Clark is not a SC poet, we are honored to share his work with you this week via Poetry of the People!
The heart of Richard Allen Taylor’s new collection, Letters to Karen Carpenter (Main Street Rag, 2023), is “Undeliverable,” the first of its four sections. There Taylor apostrophizes the late singer of poignant hits and anthems of romantic promise like “Close to You” and “It’s Only Just Begun,” as he struggles directly with his book’s core premise and challenge. The intimate beauty of Carpenter’s voice, combined with the pathos of her early death due to complications of anorexia nervosa, often served Taylor and his late wife, Julie, as a compelling soundtrack to their life together, especially during her last days when she was dying of leukemia.
In “Recruiting You, Karen, as a Pen Pal,” Taylor acknowledges his own mother’s quiet disappointment in him for rebuking his daughter’s impulse to address her dead grandfather during a Thanksgiving prayer. Thus, Taylor both confesses and disavows his paternal inclination to lay down the law about communication with the dead. Such religious inhibitions give way to imaginative play audible in this poem’s title and its transformation of “a brass lamp” into a magic lamp that delivers his late mother’s “unsolicited advice.” Moreover, that maternal heirloom, duly capitalized in the next poem, names the record company that released the Carpenters’ first single, Magic Lamp.
You’ll recall that, before there was writing, Orpheus sang as he descended to rescue Eurydice from the land of the dead. Those who turn the feelings such a story relates into compelling songs or poems can deeply affect us. We understand what they are saying, or we know that, someday soon enough, grief will teach or remind us, and we will understand again. In Letters Taylor achieves such effects in representing the process of grief and mourning. His serious yet playful approach enables him to bear the weight of such heavy loads both honestly and nimbly. The epistolary form opens a space for tones of confidentiality and intimate exchange. It puts Taylor in conversation with addressees who are out of reach but familiar and loved. Of course, there are darker sides to such imaginary conversations, and Taylor does not pretend otherwise. In a down-to-earth way, he expands our horizons, so they include mercy and gratitude along with suffering and loss. You can hear it in “Note to Karen about Mortality,” the opening poem of Letters:
I watch a lone hawk ride thermals, rise
without effort—and think of mortality’s leaden
weight, sloughed off like last year’s molting.
Not that I believe in reincarnation. Not that I
disbelieve. I mean the hawk reminds me
of you, and my wife—who loved your music.
“Undeliverable,” the book’s second section, represents raw encounters with the Grim Reaper in “Chemotherapy” and “Untitled Poem about Dying,” as mute acknowledgment of the limits of language reveals in the first word of the latter poem’s title, “Untitled.” In the following quote, the memorable simile, “like a canal lock,” provides the title for a poem about a waiting room where caregivers bide their time while cancer patients undergo tests and procedures on the day after Valentine’s Day: “The room has filled and emptied many times today, // like a canal lock passing ships into the darkness.”
Though the book’s first two sections display Taylor’s resilience and wit in the face of daunting loss, its final two sections, “Postcards” and “Change of Address,” give those qualities freer range and greater opportunity to shine in his lines. Taylor’s elegiac imperative inspires many poems, but it also leaves room for hope and recovery as well the play of language that gives delight.
-Lawrence Rhu
Lawrence Rhu is the Todd Professor of the Italian Renaissance emeritus at the University of South Carolina. He has written books and essays about the American and European Renaissances, and he edited Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale for the Evans Shakespeare series from Cengage. His poems have appeared in Poetry, Two Rivers, South Florida Poetry Journal, Forma de Vida, Jogos Florais, Quorum, Fall Lines, Pinesong, and the Poetry Society of South Carolina Yearbook. In 2018-19, three of his poems received named awards from the Poetry Society of South Carolina. A fourth, “Reading Romance with a Lady Killer,” received the 2018 Faulkner-Wisdom Poetry Award from the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society in New Orleans. In 2019, his unpublished poetry collection, “Pre-owned Odyssey and Rented Rooms,” was runner-up for that Society’s Marble Faun Award. In 2020, Conversations: The Journal of Cavellian Studies published or reprinted a dozen of his poems together with his essay on poetry and philosophy, “Other Minds and a Mind of One’s Own.”
The Jasper Project was excited to learn about the upcoming Midlands Youth Queer Prom, a free event dedicated to providing a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ+ middle and high school-aged youth in our community. This prom is not just a celebration but a statement of empowerment and solidarity, where young individuals can express themselves authentically and without fear of judgment.
According to the good folks at the Harriet Hancock Center, an organization committed to supporting and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, they are honored to be hosting this event. “We believe that promoting visibility and embracing diversity are essential steps towards building a more inclusive society, and the Midlands Youth Queer Prom embodies these principles,” sources at the center say.
“Set in the 80s, our version of Queer Prom features drag Kings and Queens and a murder mystery. Come together with other Midlands queer youth to solve the murder and figure out if this was truly a prom to die for,” sources say.
Midlands Queer Prom aims to be an inclusive and affirming event specifically designed for LGBTQ+ youth to celebrate their identities in a safe and supportive environment. Unlike traditional proms, which may not always cater to the diverse needs of LGBTQ+ individuals, Midlands Queer Prom provides a space where attendees can express themselves authentically, free from judgment or discrimination.
This event includes elements such as gender-neutral dress codes, same-sex couples being welcomed and celebrated, and a focus on LGBTQ+ artists and performers. Queer Prom is not only a celebration but also a statement of solidarity and empowerment, fostering a sense of belonging and community among LGBTQ+ youth who may face challenges or isolation in other social settings. It serves as a reminder that everyone deserves to feel valued and accepted for who they are.
Please mark your calendars for Friday, June 14th from 7:00 to 10:00pm at the Hampton-Preston Gardens in Historic Columbia.
Registration for attendance is mandatory by June 7th and the link to do so can be found here.
This week's Poet of the People is Moses Oaktree. I met Moses several years ago in Augusta, GA, when he was the manager of the Book Tavern Bookstore and a staple of the local poetry scene. Pre-COVID he would sometimes make an appearance at Mind Gravy. After COVID he moved to the Midlands and exploded on the scene. He is (in my humble opinion) the best spoken word poet in the area. He owns the stage and his work stands up well on the printed page. He is a top draw in the region and I fully expect him to become a force throughout the Southeast on his way to a national reputation.
- Al Black
Moses Oaktree is an artist, storyteller, and co-founder of Charleston, SC’s UnSpoken Word Open Mic. Mosely has performed his signature features across the United States, especially for his homes of New Orleans, Atlanta, Columbia, and Charleston. His style melds southern lyricism, historical intrigue, and a surrealist take on the African/African-American tradition to create a contemporary black American myth. He is currently working on his first book of poetry, “Heaven Be A Black Land”.
Just. Like. You.
Met someone who looked Just
Like You Today.
Honestly, it was uncanny. Your curves;
Your style--
God knows I missed your smile. She was a song
I’d once known well.
I reached for her hand out of reflex. A habit in death throes;
Memories of you echo Through places in me That have no name.
Why do you remain?
Your smile could lift the waves.
I stopped myself just as I felt
the warmth of her body. Goosebumps;
Hot needles in my skin turn to ice. Shudders;
She walked way in the moments tween my
Stutters.
I am reminded
Your smile was paradise.
I, too
I love telling folk how Dr King’s “I Am A Man” slogan turned queer in the next iteration of the movement.
I love talking bout Black Lives Matter being run by queer/women.
I love talking bout Bayard Rustin.
I love talking bout how voices, once hushed, still can find their way into the Light.
“I Am A Man”
We are equal as human.
“Black Lives Matter”
We are equal as human.
The final rendition will be “I, too, have a soul”
But if they kill me, they’ll say it wasn’t true.
Notes From Abraham
“Life was a constant miracle”, He say.
His body like smoke in the wind; He who gives shape to mist.
Substance like vapors, Both solid and shapeless.
He leans closer before he persists.
“Each breath was a gamble with death”, He say.
“I won so many times I musta cheated. Pain----
Illness----
At times, I was broken.
I took losses, but was undefeated.”
“I wanted it all…” He say.
“I made deals with the Devil- Chasing keys to Heaven.
We don’t realize the moment we
Lost Cause
The more I realized what beauty was;
The more fluent I became in the language of
God”
Time
Time Manifested
as flesh and bone
Dove into itself to discover its soul Then walked Earth’s mighty plains As the ghosts of the future.
I am
.
The Jasper Project is excited to reveal the cover for the tenth volume of Fall Lines - a literary convergence by The Art of Symphony artist Lindsay Radford Wiggins!
Lindsay Radford Wiggins graduated from Columbia College with a Studio Art degree in 2011. Originally from Montgomery, Alabama she now considers Columbia home after living here 23 years. She works full-time in histology and paints as much as she can when she is not working in the lab. She is a multi-media artist and photographer, and watercolor on paper has been her most recent obsession.
Wiggins’ body of work is typically inspired by meditation, walks in nature, and her beloved poodle, Ziggy. Her paintings embody a spiritual authenticity with her own signature whimsical flair. Influenced by German expressionism and women surrealists, her work speaks to the artist’s personal experiences, connections, and emotions, making each piece a diary-like entry of celestial swirls. The playful imagery and repetition of symbols invites the viewer to call upon their own life experience and create their own personal dialog. Wiggins’ work has been exhibited at numerous SC venues, including 701 Whaley, Koger Center of the Arts, and Trustus Theater. Her paintings are represented in many private collections, and she was featured on the cover of Jasper Magazine’s spring 2022 issue and on the cover of Kristine Hartvigsen’s recently released book of poetry, The Soulmate Poems (Finishing Line Press 2024).
The cover art for Fall Lines volume X was created for the Jasper Project’s The Art of Symphony project (April 2024), a collaboration with the South Carolina Philharmonic in which 14 visual artists from Columbia, SC created paintings inspired by the music of Tanaka, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich.
The surreal figurative work I create with clay is an invitation for others to collaborate with me in a narrative. I weave a story for the piece, as a character, in my mind and I hope the viewer will bring their own interpretation.
All figures are hand-built, usually with an
earthenware clay body, and formed from slabs. There are certain images and
elements repeated such as tally marks, skulls as a memento mori, crowns, and
pictographs and textures handmade from bisqued clay. Work often includes found objects such as bones, fiber, feathers, and sticks. I combine a variety of textures and prints into figures and, after firing with a copper carbonate wash and any glaze (used sparingly), thin layers of cold finishes are
applied.
This week's Poet of the People is Lang Owen. Before the printing press, balladeers carried poetry and news to the people; Lang Owen writes in that tradition. He is a gifted singer/songwriter who writes poem songs about people and the human condition. Every so often you meet someone who paints stories that sound new every time you hear them sung - I am privileged to know Lang Owen. www.langowen.com/
-Al Black
Lang Owen works straight out of the 1970s singer-songwriter tradition, employing poetic lyrics to express the challenges and possibilities of the current day, often viewed through the perspective of individual's imagined interior lives. Lang’s gift for seeing the world around him and dialoguing with others about their lives informs his songwriting, which often takes the form of conversations between characters in his songs. Lang released his third album, Cosmic Checkout Lane, in April 2024, his second collaboration with musician/producer Todd Mathis. “Cosmic Checkout Lane is about living our wisdom at any moment, including standing in a grocery store checkout line,” Lang says.
In 2022 Lang released She’s My Memory, which the Post & Courier Free Times ranked sixth on its The Best of South Carolina Music 2022 list. Lang’s 2019 debut album Welcome To Yesterday was hailed as “evocative storytelling at its finest” by music writer Kevin Oliver. Lang has played multiple venues in North and South Carolina, and received airplay on radio stations in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
Everybody Here
Everybody here’s my therapist
I need all the help I can get
I look around, I’m losing my ground
I don’t like what I see one bit
I float by like a whisper, you hand me a megaphone
In our own little worlds somehow we’re not alone
We’re not alone
Everybody here
Everybody here’s my archeologist
Digging in the dirt for things I miss
Down on hands and knees beneath the olive trees
Finding my love still exists
We live in memory like statues standing in Rome
In our own little worlds somehow we’re not alone
We’re not alone
Everybody here
I don’t know what I’m dreaming any more
I just know you’re believing
I don’t know whose shoes are on my floor
I just know you’re not fleeing
What I can do is wash your feet
Patch you up when you’re bleeding
I’ll keep your secrets discrete
I’ll say what you’re meaning to me
I float by like a whisper, you hand me a megaphone
In our own little worlds somehow we’re not alone
We’re not alone
Everybody here
Gravity
I’m not a smart man, but I know gravity
I drop nails from many a roof, it’s physics obviously
Don’t take paper in a frame to see that things fall
I’ve done this job for twenty-eight years, I’m a jack of all trades
I fix everybody’s leaky walls, water moves in strange ways
Don’t take paper in a frame to know a hammer’s what you need
House to house, I drive around, lots of new cars everywhere
From my truck, I see it clear, this town’s in disrepair
I guess that’s why God put me here
My knees are shot, all the ups and downs, I tell my boy get your degree
I’ve done some things of which I’m proud, it never came easily
Don’t take paper in a frame to know what builds you breaks you down
House to house, I drive around, lots of new cars everywhere
From my truck, I see it clear, this town’s in disrepair
I guess that’s why God put me here
I paint all your empty rooms, I like the smell of something fresh
I leave a little bit of me in there, where your baby lays down to rest
Don’t take paper in a frame to know love’s all in your hands
House to house, I drive around, lots of new cars everywhere
From my truck, I see it clear, this town’s in disrepair
I guess that’s why God put me here
Love Sputnik
Mr. Hardy taught the sciences, the stuff of life
Backrow kids mocked thinning hair and tattered ties
Astronomy was his true love, Mr. Hardy had no wife
Russia launched first satellite shook the world
Beep beep on ham radio, spaceage unfurled
Mr. Hardy daydreamed at his desk of a long-lost girl
Oppenheimer called out God
Galileo searched the stars
Mr. Hardy lectured genius does no tricks
Sir Iassac’s apple fell to ground
Einstein wrote it simply down
Mr. Hardy questioned who on earth invents
Love Sputnik
18,000 miles an hour light across the sky
Mr. Hardy said change rockets into our lives
When she burned up in the atmosphere, Mr. Hardy cried
I recall a film about the sun Hardy showed
Man in glasses explained giant stars someday explode
In the cosmic scheme of things no one is betrothed
Oppenheimer called out God
Galileo searched the stars
Mr. Hardy lectured genius does no tricks
Sir Iassac’s apple fell to ground
Einstein wrote it simply down
Mr. Hardy questioned who on earth invents
Love Sputnik
Mr. Hardy gazed alone at night crescent moon
Mr. Hardy knew she’s inching away too soon
Mr. Hardy retired from everything that very June
Oppenheimer called out God
Galileo searched the stars
Mr. Hardy lectured genius does no tricks
Sir Iassac’s apple fell to ground
Einstein wrote it simply down
Mr. Hardy questioned who on earth invents
Love Sputnik
Man With A Broom
Thirty years I swept floors, F & M Bank
Retired with a big mug, too many last hugs
Cards and thanks
Now I use a red broom, sweep my curbside
Photos, bottles, pennies, cigar butts
You know it’s not right
My sight is still good, careful when the cars pass
My doctor says she’s never seen a man my age
With such a strong back
I’ve got so little to leave this big world
I never had a son or a precious little girl
I’m just an old man with a broom
On the street in the sun Monday afternoon
Man with a broom
I found a brown shoe on the sidewalk nearby
My whole day puzzling what happened to that foot
Can’t say why
My shadow tells time, I don’t wear a watch now
I can see no point in counting the hours
As they wind down
Who’ll pick up this broom? Nobody wants to sweep
I’m scared things all go to hell when I fall into
That long sleep
I’ve got so little to leave this big world
I never had a son or a precious little girl
I’m just an old man with a broom
On the street in the sun Monday afternoon
Man with a broom
Neighbor kid walks by with those earphone things
Give me a listen, though it don’t beat Bob Dylan
My heart still sings
Wife calls me inside, says I’ll die from the heat
But this broom’s what I’ve got, and I’ll sweep ‘til I drop
On this clean street
I’ve got so little to leave this big world
I never had a son or a precious little girl
I’m just an old man with a broom
On the street in the sun Monday afternoon
Man with a broom
Used Books
I Sunday browse your shop for hours
We talk about writers when no one’s there
And you proclaim love for Hemingway
For your age that’s pretty rare
You say you can relate
To wine and war and fate
And how this life is so unfair
Your eyes ask me why, you wait for me to try
I scratch my head, I can’t help you there
You wanna be heard, you gotta listen
You wanna be read, you gotta buy somebody’s book
You wanna be found, you gotta know who you’re missing
You wanna be seen, you gotta really, really look
Oh I swear, my sweet Karina
I once told a girl you never mind my words
“I mind them too much,” she said with a smile
She vanished like a ghost in a cloud of cigarette smoke
I missed that coming by a country mile
I tell this tale to you, I’m no fountain of any truth
Might be the one thing I do today worthwhile
No doubt it’s been said by poets long since dead
There’s nothing in this world we can’t defile
You wanna be heard, you gotta listen
You wanna be read, you gotta buy somebody’s book
You wanna be found, you gotta know who you’re missing
You wanna be seen, you gotta really, really look
Oh I swear, my sweet Karina
Old Man and The Sea, I peruse with iced coffee
I’ll soon forget every page I turn
My days are scribbled down, torn up paper on the ground
Take what I say this once for what it’s worth
You wanna be heard, you gotta listen
You wanna be read, you gotta buy somebody’s book
You wanna be found, you gotta know who you’re missing
You wanna be seen, you gotta really, really look
Oh I swear, my sweet Karina
Next week, the Koger Center has two days back-to-back planned with art receptions and free concerts. Squonk Opera returns to the Koger Center Plaza Stage for two free performances of their new show, Brouhaha. The troupe last performed at the Koger Center in September 2022 with their show “Hand to Hand.” This year, the featured prop of Brouhaha is the “Squonkcordion,” an enormous musical instrument that takes center stage in the performance. The two performances are on May 15 and 16 at 6 p.m. Bring your picnic blankets and chairs – the Koger lawn always encourages it!
Prior to Squonk taking the stage on May 15, join the Koger Center and Auntie Karen Foundation for the closing reception of “The Circus” by Jennifer “J’Renee” Johnson, an exhibit in the Koger Center Lobby. J’Renee is internationally known for her reverse glass paintings (eglomise) depicting Southern lifestyle themes, tropical design, and the life and times in New Orleans, pre and post-Hurricane Katrina. After almost 30 years, she has mastered the artistry of reverse glass painting. The exhibit is in the main lobby of the Koger Center where the work of Philip Mullen is typically housed and includes both new and old works along with a sculpture created for the 2024 iteration of the Auntie Karen Foundation’s annual “Legends of...” concert and auction. The reception is from 4:30 – 7 p.m. and is free and open to all interested.
On May 16, join the Jasper Project as we celebrate Third Thursday with our newest artist in the Nook, Malik Greene. Our Third Thursday opening reception is from 5:30 – 7 p.m. Malik Greene's art is a means of expression, honoring the people in his immediate environment as an act of resistance and existence. Based on his personal experiences, his large-scale figurative paintings address themes of identity, kinship, and the residual effects of cultural traumas. By expressing these sentiments in his work, Greene can consider the societal intricacies surrounding his Black experience.
We encourage all patrons for all three events to float between the art receptions and concerts! For more information, visit KogerCenterForTheArts.com or email kogercenter@sc.edu.
You are warmly invited to The Glo Show on Friday May 10, 2024 at the Olympia room at 701 Whaley. The house opens at 6:30 p.m. with heavy hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar, and the performance starts at 7. The Glo Show is a performance, dance party, and a fundraiser to raise $4000 for a matching grant to Power Company Collaborative from the South Carolina Arts Commission.
The Power Company Collaborative is a multidiscipline group of artists with dance as our root of origin committed to empowerment for all people through creative engagement. Martha Brim, artistic director for The Power Company Collaborative, aka PoCoCo, has been at the helm for almost 25 years!
The Glo Show has a triple purpose. First, to raise money to match Power Company Collaborative’s SC Arts Commission grant. The pandemic sucked for artists, but the Power Company continued to make work during the lockdown in a time that wasn’t easy for anyone. They received some small grants from the Arts Commission, but they’ve blown through the savings trying to continue their work. This matching grant would go a long way to support the 25th anniversary!
The second purpose is to celebrate PoCoCo and their silver 25th anniversary! According to Martha Brim, silver symbolizes radiance, brilliance and longevity.
The third, and grounding purpose for the variety show style evening is to honor Gloria Talcove Woodard. Gloria (Glo) was a friend, a luminous and joyful person in our community who died in 2018 from cancer. Her husband Doug said, “Gloria danced and laughed through the world with boundless energy.” There are many stories of Gloria launching into spontaneous dance pretty much wherever she went.
And that’s what Martha experienced with her throughout our friendship. Whenever she and I would get together we would end up dancing. After she died, Martha made a vow to herself that if she ever saw someone dancing in public I would join them as a tribute to Gloria.
During The Glo Show, they will be DIYing our own joyful luminosity as Glo-ing up with interactive possibilities (ok dance party)! As poet Amanda Gorman said “There is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it.”
The performers and artists who have generously donated their time come from as far away as South Africa. Performances include various dance styles, live music, performance art, puppetry and film. Some of the listed performers are: Erin Bailey and Moving Body Dance, Brittany Watkins, Beth E. Coiner, Besty Newman and La Tropa, Allison Tipton Milner, Amanda Ling, Lisa Wheeler, Leanne Kornegay, Sally T McKay and the Hump Day Tappers, and of course Ken May and Jeanne Garane!
There are many ways to support this fundraiser:
Buy a ticket and enjoy the amazing show! ($30)
Click on the link or qr code and donate.
Share this information with people who are also luminous and may want to support PoCoCo.
If you see someone dancing, join them. Glo and Martha style.
Wonder on to the SC Upstate for a new exhibition of Philip Mullen Art. Titled RED & WHITE, the show runs from May 10 through June 29, 2024 at the Hampton III Gallery at 3110 Wade Hampton Blvd, Suite 10 in Taylors, SC.
The Artist Reception is scheduled for Friday May 10th from 6 - 8 pm and a special event — Coffee and Conversation will be Saturday May 18th from 11 am - noon.
This week's Poet of the People is Tim Conroy. I met Tim Conroy several years ago at a Columbia literary event and cajoled him into doing his first poetry feature. We became fast friends, haunting and terrorizing coffee shops throughout Columbia. Later, we teamed up with singer/songwriter, Lang Owen as the Two Hats & a Ponytail trio. When Tim's wife retired, they fled to Florida; however, he will be back in Columbia to perform Tuesday, 05/07 at Simple Gifts and Wednesday, 05/08 at Mind Gravy with Lang and myself for the Reunion Tour of Two Hats and Ponytail.
Tim Conroy is a military brat who has lived all over the country and eventually ended up in South Carolina. A retired educator and beloved social rabble rouser, he has published two books of poetry, Theologies of Terrain, Muddy Ford Press 2017 and No True Route, Muddy Ford Press 2023. During COVID, he co hosted the YouTube poetry interview series, Chewing Gristle
Lousy
My Dad said lousy a lot
to describe his children
a lousy jump shot, a lousy right fielder,
a lousy bedmaker, a lousy dishwasher,
with a lousy attitude.
We had lousy eyes, freckles, and postures.
But he would never admit,
we were stationed in lousy towns.
We could have become lousy
because he fought in three lousy wars,
where he won a few lousy medals.
Every year, we left friends and moved
on lousy cross-country car trips.
He had a lousy temper and backhand.
His world turned lousier when our mom divorced him.
He was lousy in love with her.
He tasted lousy when schizophrenia
came for one of his sons.
Afterward, he was never a lousy grandfather
or a lousy money giver.
He remained lousy at saying sorry.
When he died, we never felt lousier
and knew a pilot's love didn't land empty,
his caps and his godawful shirts,
his lousy flaws, our hearts.
No True Route, Muddy Ford Press, 2023
The Flight Jacket
hung in the closet to forget the throttle
and how it zoomed from carriers during
the Korean War, dipped into battle
of the Chosin Reservoir for the troops
to make a break for it through scarred paths
and never told its story, zipped up mute
stayed cold to the touch preferring the dark
every day its arms down not saluting
while its empty pockets refused to hold
onto the sound of bombs and men waving
screaming hello, goodbye, and blood marking
each sleeve forever, but the leather saved
many lives, though not Dad’s, his explosions
and how he didn’t want us to touch him
The Child We Need
In front of imperial drones,
swollen under cement blocks
—tongues, old and young
because we doubt what is told
because it takes silence to listen
because we need to learn gestures
to rise reversals from wombs.
War-born babies and hostages
with no chink of light, no angels,
no safe mangers even for donkeys,
only hunger and inconsolable wails
until we embody the dead,
the child we need to live won’t
sing and fly paper kites in Gaza.
The Best Part
The truth be known,
gay or straight,
the priest gets paid,
the nun has a shitty deal,
the minister wants his ass kissed.
Meanwhile I have felt a voice
in the forest of owls and ordinary spaces.
Strangers have rescued me from peril;
like you, love has saved me.
Your neighbor is human.
We don’t listen or tell it right,
we take it literally,
we can’t write it down better,
we make it too complicated.
Who have you loved in this journey?
What is it you have given?
From Theologies of Terrain, Muddy Ford Press, 2017
A Fitted Game
The American Legion is full of men and women who battle
video games for printed slips to exchange at the bar for cash.
They don't dare add up the losses, so full of gin and silent friends.
Some say it's a loss of purpose and only passing time.
My Dad would have died playing if he hadn't croaked in bed.
His fingers reached, but I did not know what to tell him.
Their sacrifice isn't gone, and the popcorn kernels are still free,
salted, and buttered, sliding down throats that burn like cigarettes.
The flashing screen doesn't care who presses the fortune of the hours,
shouldering memories with sips. No soldier deserts the machine
that programs a fitted game, though many dream of a different outcome.
I have loved those players who won once
The Koger Center for the Arts is bringing back their art competition, “The Project” for 2024. The submission period opened on April 17 and will close on July 19, 2024. The first-place winner for the contest receives a $500 stipend and a group of artists will get the opportunity to showcase their winning artwork!
The beginning of the art contest started during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The goals were simple – offer a small financial award to a South Carolina artist and provide a platform to showcase the talent of artists in our state through an exhibition at the Koger Center.
You can fill out the submission form here!
The requirements for submissions are as follows:
· Artist must be over 18 years old and based in South Carolina
· Submissions must be your own, original work
· Submissions must have been created in the past 2 years
· If an artist has applied before, repeat art cannot be submitted again
· Previous winners of The Project/1593 Project (the name of the contest the year it was created) may not submit artwork for up to 5 years. Honorable mentions are still allowed to enter again.
The end of the submission period coincides with the run of the exhibit “The Project 2023 Winners’ Exhibition.” The featured, winning artists from last year’s submission period are Yvette Cummings (first place), Roberto de Leon (second place), Gerard Erley, Susan Lenz, Jo-Ann Morgan, and Cameron Porter (honorable mentions). More information about this upcoming exhibit can be found on the Koger Center site.
If you have any questions or concerns about the submission process, call the Koger Center Admin Office at (803)777-7500, or email Emily Moffitt at moffitte@mailbox.sc.edu.
-Emily Moffitt
May’s Tiny Gallery artist is local jeweler and creative Pat Callahan, who some may know by the name Entangled Jewelry.
Making and fixing objects were staples of Callahan’s childhood, with “creativity, making, and ingenuity always encouraged & patterned at home.”
“A small hutch was always stocked with colored and plain paper, crayons, glue, and such. My mother & maternal grandmother helped my sisters and I explore embroidery, crewel work, knitting, crocheting, sewing, and baking,” she recalls. “My father, a mechanical engineer, could fix and repair seemingly anything, had an amazing array of tools, and somehow found time to craft furniture and carve miniature-scale US Naval ships.”
Callahan spent her childhood drawing, and as she grew, she began replicating the life around her in her drawings: livestock on farms, animals from the zoo, and her own family moving around their everyday life. It is no surprise, then, that she would study art—graphic design specifically—in college, receiving a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University.
After a career in graphic design, Callahan retired from USC Press—the university’s scholarly book publisher. Now having the time, she took her first jewelry class jewelry-making class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. At this time, she resumed a sketchbook practice and spent more time than ever in her studio.
Callahan found her way to jewelry naturally through her figure drawing and sketching. In the 90s, she began figure-drawing with the group About Face, and this was her main form of creation for 15 years.
“By 2007, I was building shadowboxes, which married my ingenuity with my love of nature findings, metal whatnots, and drawing. As part of this work I learned jewelry techniques to secure items in my boxes,” she shares. “In 2009 I moved my studio home after 13 years at Vista Studios, downtown Columbia, and soon surrendered to making jewelry with recycled, vintage, and metal finds. Through it all, my artistic expression beautifully counterbalanced a computer-based career.”
This all led to Entangled Jewelry, where Callahan makes her creations through building off a special primary material: metal harvested from the streets of Columbia. She finds these materials to be “beautifully scuffed and abraded and rich with story” and believes “working with recycled and vintage elements honors [her] concern for Mother Earth.” She combines these with additional vintage and repurposed elements—and the rare gemstone—for edgy, industrial statement pieces.
The crafting process itself is organic. Whenever Callahan finds a particularly “tantalizing” piece, she keeps it on her work surface, and from here, pairings begin forming in her mind.
“Some pairings are immediate and assemble quickly; others evolve and demand I learn new skills or discover a tool,” she says. “This assemblage, one-of-a-kind approach feeds my creativity and curiosity. Possibilities are endless!”
This industrial, innovative assemblage is apparent in her Tiny Gallery show. Washers and watches become wearable pieces of art in her necklaces. Metal you’d think nothing of as you walk over it on Main Street becomes the stunning centerpiece of a pin. Beads interspersed with charms and toolbox necessities transform into earrings.
“My Entangled Jewelry leans industrial style and genderless. This selection includes pins and clip pins as alternatives to necklaces and earrings,” Callahan says. “I believe in adornment!”
Some may be familiar with Callahan’s work from juried artisan markets such as the Rosewood Art & Music Festival, Sesqui Artisan Market, Cottontown Art Crawl, and Artista Vista Live Mart, and patrons can find her after the show as well at Art on State on May 10, 5:30 to 9:30, in West Columbia.
To purchase any of the works in this article, and to view the additional works in the show, head on over to Jasper’s online gallery space: Tiny Gallery.
-Christina Xan