Elise Buchman | Patriarchy | Hickory Dickory Dock

Patriarchy

Then three days later when she came to where
she would use her ointments for the body,
the rock was rolled aside for all to see.
The tomb was now empty; no one was there.
So Mary told the others what she had learned.
They laughed and called her a silly woman,
yet one went back to look. But, being a man
he didn’t understand what he’d discerned,
but when he returned, he told the same story.
This time the others finally believed.
Suddenly there was no time left to grieve.
Mary sighed, “they would not listen to me.”
So through the years, the story was passed down
no trace of feminine left to be found.


Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory dickory, dock
My phone is now a clock.
It takes pictures of you,
it's a flashlight, too!
And tomorrow, it'll wash my socks.



Elise Buchman is a poet, translator, teacher, and theatrical fencer. She was recently featured as the Guest Children's Poet at the 38th Annual City College Poetry Festival, and her first book, Animal Crackers and Their Friends was published by Publish America in 2009. She writes for both children and adults.


©Elise Buchman 2010

Dominick Arbolay | At S21, Phnom Penh

At S21, Phnom Penh


My guide, whose family was taken by the Khmer Rouge, told me the day started when inmates stripped for inspection. They did what they were told. Arms behind their backs, legs raised to check for loose shackles. Questions answered without reflection. No one cried when flogged. Blows from a rifle butt met any complaints or backtalk. Constantly needing consent, even to roll over in a cell. “You’re not worthy of a bullet,” was drummed into their heads.

A glass case held three hundred skulls. According to my guide, they once formed a map of Cambodia. Bed frames and racks, where inmates had been whipped and tortured, lay rusting. In one room, thousands of photos of students, teachers, writers, doctors...all disappeared.

Dominick Arbolay serves as Associate Editor for Mobius, The Poetry Magazine, and moderates the peer group workshop at the Poetry Society of America. He has published a chapbook of prose poems, The Phantoms, and is currently completing a series of stories about French writers that take place in 19th century Paris.

©Dominick Arbolay 2010

Next Prairie Fire Reading Sunday May 30

SUNDAY 5/30 - 6pm (sign up 5:30pm)

Peter Chelnik's "Prairie Fire Jazz Poetry"

~features~

AC HAYLEY (vocals & bass)

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ELISE BUCHMAN(poetry)

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DOMINICK ARBOLAY (poetry)

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Host PETER CHELNIK (poetry)

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The Open Mic

@
AMERICAN THEATRE OF ACTORS
314 W. 54th St. (bet. 8th & 9th Aves.)
Hell's Kitchen, NYC 10019
(212) 581-3044
www.appleboxdesign.com/ATA/ata.html


Admission: $5

AC Haley is a singer who accompanies herself on electric bass. After a career as a ballet dancer Ms. Haley turned her talents to music and is now performing in her self-styled cabaret, "Effervescent Hour." The show is an eclectic mix of classical music, contemporary songs, Broadway and choral offerings as well as Haley's own compositions. She has performed at numerous venues in NYC including; The Reprise Room at Dillons, Jim Caruso's Cast Party at Birdland, The Algonquin Salon, The Recoup Lounge, and Vox Pop. Ms. Haley also sings in the Brooklyn Conservatory Chorale under the direction of Nelly Vuksic. She continues to study voice and bass privately. More can be seen and heard at: http://www.myspace.com/achaley39seffervescenthour.

Dominick Arbolay has published his prose poems in World, Hanging Loose, U.S. Latino Review, The Paragraph, The Culvert Chronicles, and Mobius, The Poetry Magazine, where he serves as associate editor. He has published a chapbook of prose poems, The Phantoms, and moderates the peer group workshop at the Poetry Society of America. Mr. Arbolay also writes short stories, and is completing a series of stories about French writers that take place in 19th century Paris. The first two installments have been published in a chapbook, La Boheme. He has read at the Back Fence, The Bowery Poetry Club, Poets Corner, A Gathering of Tribes, the late Red Room in Hell’s Kitchen, the PSA, and a sports bar a few blocks away from the old Yankee Stadium. He has also traveled widely, from Brazil, Bhutan, Chile, China, France, Kenya, India, Morocco, Spain, and Guatemala.

Elise Buchman graduated from CCNY with an MFA in Creative Writing, where she won the Marilyn Sternglass Award for Writing, The Pam Laskin Children's Writing Award, and the Malinche Prize for Translation. Her work has been published in Promethean, 138journal.com, Poetry in Performance, The Brownstone Poetry Anthology 2010, Dinner With the Muse, and The Best Poems & Poets of 2005, among others. She was recently featured as the Guest Children's Poet at the 38th Annual City College Poetry Festival, and her first book, Animal Crackers and Their Friends was published by Publish America in 2009. She writes for both children and adults.