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Poetry Breakfast

Serving a little poetic nourishment Monday thru Friday and featuring a Short Play Saturday Matinee to read.

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Asbury Underground Event – Poetry, Music, and Art

At Poetry Breakfast, things have gotten pretty exciting in our neck of the woods.  In addition to the dozens of poetry readings and open mics held each month here in the Asbury/Ocean/Monmouth County area – we also have one huge celebration of poetry, music and art happening on October 15th and 16, 2016.

In a joint effort between Asbury Underground and The Ministry of Artistic Intent (and a little office support from Poetry Breakfast), there will be one very exciting night of poetry in Asbury Park, NJ.  Thirteen featured poets will be reading followed by an open mic.

This is part of the Asbury Underground which also features performances from over 100 musicians and 50 visual artists.  All events are FREE and open to the public.

For details about the Underground Poetry visit their Facebook Event Page.

For details about the Underground Music and Art visit www.asburyunderground.com

 

A Special Thank You to our Guest Editors

In collaboration with the Ministry of Artistic Intent and the Water Witch Poetry & Reading Series, Poetry Breakfast held an editor’s roundtable reading at the Water Witch Coffee house this past Thursday.

Poetry Breakfast would like the thank the wonderful artists, musicians and poets that helped review poetry submissions and bring a few new flavors to our menu.

Guest Editors:

Sean Navat Balanon – Sean is an artist from Old Bridge, NJ.  He has a BA in Music Technology from Stevens Institute of Technology.  Sean illustrates and makes video art.

Jon Davies – Jon is a musician, writer, and vagrant who has traveled throughout the United States.

John Flood – John is a local photographer, poet and musician focused on documenting and exposing the vibrant Monmouth County arts scene.   His documentation of local musicians and artists, along with his own art, can be found at www.SunLitRain.wordpress.com .

Charles Ignar –  Charles is a local emerging poet.  He is a mainstay at the Water Witch Poetry Workshop & Reading where he shares his work and enjoys hearing the diverse work of other poets.

Chelsea Palermo – Chelsea is the founder of the Ministry of Artistic Intent. She is the hostess and organizer of the Water Witch Poetry & Reading Series.  In 2013 she was nominated for Poet Laureate of Asbury Park.  She graduated with her MFA in Poetry from Drew University.

Patricia Rinaldi – Patricia is a poet and regular attendee of the Water Witch Poetry Workshop & Reading Series.  She consistently brings encouragement to all the poets at the Water Witch.

Our Mystery Guest Editor – Though he chose to remain anonymous – anonymous is certainly not the word to describe this vibrant poet, writer, and musician.  He has actively participated in and fiercely promoted the local poetry and music scene for many years and he continues to draw attention to new and emerging artists in Monmouth County.

Photo by Kay Kestner.

Poetry Breakfast accepts submissions of poetry and poetry related creative non-fiction year-round.  See our Submission Guidelines page for details on submitting your work.

Start your morning with a nourishing poem.  Follow us on  Twitter, Facebook, and  Tumblr,  and enjoy a new poem every morning straight to your feed.

Best of the Net Nominations – 2016

Poetry Breakfast would like to congratulate the following poets.  Though it was difficult for us to choose only six poems to nominate for the Best of the Net Award, we narrowed it down to these:

Birthday Present by Joan McNerney

By the Time I Got to Dublin by Carter Vance

Gray River by Patricia Biela

Jazz Kahuna by Max Reif

Knots by Nate Maye

The Problem with California by Maggie Rosen

 

Congratulations!

 

Photo by Benjamin Balazs.

Poetry Breakfast suspended due to Hurricane Sandy

Just wanted to let everyone know that Poetry Breakfast is on hold for right now. I have not even looked at the site or any submissions since we began preparations for Hurricane Sandy more than a week ago.

While my family, myself, and my home survived the storm, many neighbors were not so fortunate. We live along the Raritan Bay which sits between NJ and Staten Island. Like all coastal areas of NJ we were hit hard. Many of the homes down the street were washed away and most of Union Beach, a small working class town, has had more than half of its town destroyed.

Needless to say, Poetry Breakfast is not a top priority for me right now.

I know there have been many pleas in the media and even a benefit concert to raise money for the Red Cross. Yes the Red Cross is a wonderful organization, however, they are not the only nor are they the main organization helping with relief and recovery.

A vast majority of our needs are being served by a little local non-profit called RAINE (Reaching Anyone In Need Everyday). On Sunday alone, they served over 20,000 meals, handed out clothes, helped residents clean up their damaged homes, provided diapers and toiletries, and so much more. They have been doing this every day since the day after the storm hit and will continue working daily to help our neighbors in Hazlet, Union Beach, Matawan, Keansburg, Keyport, and other Bayshore areas.

100’s of people have volunteered to help RAINE with their relief efforts. ALL the volunteers are local. Many have been without power for a week. You’ve seen the destruction that Sandy caused. What you have not seen is how amazing the people in Central New Jersey are. On the news, you see people pleading for help from the government and Red Cross. Around here, there are no pleas. People are taking care of each other. The best way I can put it is this: The wave of volunteers and donations from our own community is stronger than the 15 ft tidal surge waves that demolished half of our neighboring town.

If you want to be inspired, or just find a place to donate where you know that the next day, your donation will actually be put in the hands of someone who’s lost everything from the storm, please check out RAINE on facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/raine/ You can visit their main website at http://rainefoundation.com/ . They are accepting financial donations through their main website. And like I said, basically the next day, your donation will be in the hands of someone who needs it right now.

For those of you who have submitted poems for consideration in Poetry Breakfast, I don’t know when I will be getting back to reading them. It may be a week before I get back to that, or it could be a few weeks. If you don’t want to wait and wish to send your submissions elsewhere, I completely understand. Just please email me to let me know that you’ve sent them somewhere else. If you’ve already received an acceptance for your poem, it WILL still be posted on its scheduled day. Those are already scheduled and in the system.

And yes…I am asking you to donate to RAINE. And to spread the word about them to your friends. Also, I’m asking you to look at their facebook page just so you can see the amazing generosity and resilience of the people here at the Bayshore. With all the destruction around us you would think it would break your heart, but with the hundreds of people volunteering thru RAINE and the tens of thousands they are helping, it lifts your heart to a level you could never imagine. If you can’t give, just go to their facebook page and let them lift your spirits too.

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