One Page Poetry Circle Archive

Welcome to the One Page Poetry Circle at St. Agnes Branch Library!

DDate: Tuesday, October 1
Time: 5:30 - 6:30 pm
Place: St. Agnes Branch Library, 444 Amsterdam Avenue (near 81st Street), 3rd Floor
Theme: Poetry and Odd Titles (pdf)

Find a poem! Show up! Read a poem! Discuss a poem!

We're back for the twelfth season of the One Page Poetry Circle where people gather to examine the works of established poets. While there is no instructor and this is not a workshop for personal writing, once a month OPPC gives everyone a place to become teachers and learners to explore the form, content, language and meaning of poetry. Since the circle began, participants have selected and discussed 1063 poems and have read countless others in pursuit of poetry that speaks to them.

Have you ever read a poem because you were intrigued by the title? Whether a title attracts you or repels you, it can have a powerful effect on your reaction to the poem itself. A title often gives you an idea of what a poem is about, but it can also be deliberately misleading. This is all part of what we mean by "odd titles"; titles that for some reason or other stand out in your mind.

L. L. Barkat's poem (just below) is almost all title:

• Meet Me in a Minimalist Poem Where We Can Wear
• (      )

James Wright's poem "In Response to a Rumor That the Oldest Whorehouse in Wheeling, West Virginia Has Been Condemned" has a grounded and provocative title. Yet the poem takes the reader on a enigmatic trip across the River Styx.

• I will grieve alone,
• As I strolled alone, years ago, down along
• The Ohio shore.
• I hid in the hobo jungle weeds
• Upstream from the sewer main,
• Pondering, gazing.

• I saw, down river,
• At Twenty-third and Water Streets
• By the vinegar works,
• The doors open in early evening.
• Swinging their purses, the women
• Poured down the long street to the river
• And into the river.

• I do not know how it was
• They could drown every evening.
• What time near dawn did they climb up the other shore,
• Drying their wings?

• For the river at Wheeling, West Virginia,
• Has only two shores:
• The one in hell, the other
• In Bridgeport, Ohio.

• And nobody would commit suicide, only
• To find beyond death
• Bridgeport, Ohio.

We're looking forward to seeing you at the October 1st One Page Poetry Circle. Whether a poem has an odd title or no title at all, choose a poem that has meaning to you. And if you can, come with copies for others to share. Can't locate a poem you want to bring? Browse the poetry section at the library or check out Poetry Foundation or poets.org.

In the meantime, please blog with us at onepagepoetrycircle.wordpress.com.

Fall 2019 Schedule
October 1, Poetry and Odd Titles
November 12, Poetry and Optimism or Pessimism
December 10, Poetry and Confession

Abigail Burnham Bloom and
AnnaLee Wilson

The One Page Poetry Circle is sponsored by the New York Public Library and is open to all. St. Agnes Branch Library is handicap accessible.