Readers here are familiar with Poetry Breakfast.  A morning nibble of poetic nourishment.  But Poet’s Lunch and Reading?

I am not much good at explaining.  Especially when things grow organically.  A seed dropped by the wind.  Planted in my yard.  Growing without my planning.

Over the course of the last year and a half a place now known as the Poetry and Arts Barn has been incubating.  Its final full birth came about October 1st, 2017.  That day, the first Writer’s Brunch and Poet’s Lunch and Reading happened.  And they will continue happening every Sunday.

Brunch and Lunch are the obvious outgrowths of Poetry Breakfast.  Only, these are in the physical realm, face to face, bodies in the same space.  The purpose of them is the same as any meal – fuel and nourishment.

The full growth of the Poetry and Arts Barn has yet to be revealed, even to me, though I am the one with the keys to the building.  What will come, will come when it is meant to be.  For now, we have the Writer’s Brunch and Poet’s Lunch and Reading.

For those who dine with us each morning for breakfast, we don’t want you to go without some poetry for lunch on Sundays.  So, each week we will capture something from the Poet’s Lunch and serve it up the following Sunday.

This past Sunday, we had a wonderful visit from Annmarie Lockhart, a local Jersey poet, who heard about the Poetry and Arts Barn through Poetry Breakfast.

She was gracious enough to be our spontaneous featured poet.  And we caught it on video to share with you today.

Annmarie Lockhart is the founding editor of vox poetica, an online literary salon dedicated to poetry, and Unbound Content, an independent poetry press. A lifelong Bergen County, New Jersey resident, she lives, writes, and works two miles from the hospital where she was born. You can read her words at fine journals online and in print.

We hope you’ll watch and listen.  And while you’re munching on this today, we’ll be at the Barn cooking up something new to serve you for lunch next Sunday.

Part 1

Part 2

And Part 3… The Nailpolish Poems