poetry open mike reading

I will read my poem, “Snarling Cup of Coffee” on the Journal of Expressive Writing’s first global poetry reading zoom session, starting at 7 pm on September 8^th EST.

Update: I ended up reading “Just Enough for Coffee”. It was a lot of fun. I am going to do it again, and try PSH and Rattle open zoom mike readings as well. Perhaps someday I will do some open mike readings or slams when I am back in the states. end update.

Want your friends and/or family to attend? We hope so! Please send them this free registration link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-mic-tickets-166176880523. Once registered, they will receive the Zoom link 24 hours in advance of the event.

Jennifer A. Minotti
Founder Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Expressive Writing

journalofexpressivewriting.com

jen@journalofexpressivewriting.com

On Wed, Aug 25, 2021 at 11:44 AM Jennifer Minotti <jen@journalofexpressivewriting.com> wrote:

Dear Journal Contributor,

We are so thrilled that you signed up to read your writing for the inaugural Journal of Expressive Writing’s poetry open mike reading on September 8, 2021 at 7 p.m. on Zoom!

This is just a reminder: Each reader should plan on reading—in any genre—for a maximum of four minutes. Please time your reading(s) in advance, as we have a lot of readers signed up! for the poetry open mike reading.

Here are a few reminders:

1. We will send you the Zoom Link 24 hours in advance poetry open mike reading .
  1. You will be on Zoom with us by audio and video for this OPEN MIC. You can choose to put your video off.
    1. Here is a link to this event (and soon more upcoming events) that you can share: http://www.journalofexpressivewriting.com/open-mic
  2. 1. Please “mute” yourself upon entry and stay muted unless it’s your turn.
  3. 1. Please feel free to say “hello” and tell everyone where you’re from in the chat room! We love having conversations and reading your comments there. Please feel free to share ways that you connect with the writing of other readers and show your appreciation & encouragement.
  4. 1. We sincerely hope our OPEN MIC readers and listeners will view our space as a safe one that affirms diversity, equity,inclusivity, justice, and anti-racism.
  5. 1. PLEASE! If you’re registered and need to withdraw, e-mail jen@journalofexpressivewriting.comand cancel your registration so that we may offer your space to someone on the waitlist.
  6. 1. Follow us on social media and help us spread the word.
  7. 1. Read the latestexpressive writing, free writing, non-fiction, poetry, and prose by both new and established writers in the Journal now!

Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

See you soon! for the poetry open mike reading.

Jen Minoti
Kelly DuMar

Snarling Cup of Coffee

I like to start my day with a hot cup of coffee

I pound down the coffee
First thing I do every day as the dawning sun
Lights up my lonesome room

Yeah, but not just a simple cup of java Joe, but a God damn snarling sarcastic smarmy cup of coffee

I mean, – we are talking about an alcoholic, all speed ahead, always hot, always fresh, always there when I need it, angry, attitude talk to the hand Ztude, bad, bad assed, beats breaking, beatnik, bluesy, bitter, bitchy, bombs away, capitalistic, caffeinated up the ass, cinematic, communistic, Colombian grown, Costa Rican inspired, Cowabunga to the max, crazy assed, devilishly angelic, divine, divinely inspired, dyslexic, epic, extreme vetting, evil eye, expensive, erotic vision inducing, Ethiopian coffee house brewed, euphoric, freaky, freazoid, foxy, Frenched kissed, French brewed, funkified, foxy lady, graphic, GOD in my coffee, with Allah, Ganesh, Jesus, Kali, Buddha, Christians, Durga, Hindus, Mohamed, Jesus and Mo and their friend, the cosmic bar maid, Sai Babai, Shiva, Taoists, Zoroastrians, drinking my god damned coffee in Hell; growling, gnarly, happy, hard as ice, Hawaian blessed, high as a kite, hippie, hip, hipster, hip hoppy, hot as hell yet strangely sweet as heaven, jazzy, jealous, Kerouac approved, kick ass, kick my god damn ass to Tuesday, kick down the doors and take no prisoners, grown in the Vietnam highlands by ex Vietcong, Guatemalan grown, kiss ass, illegal in every state, imported from all over the god damn world, insane, lovely, loony, lonely, lonesome, malodorous mean old rotten, motherfucking, nasty, narcotic, never whatever, never meh, never cold, not approved by the CIA, not approved by DHS, not approved for human consumption by the FDA, not your daddy’s sissified corporate cup of coffee, NOT DECAFE coffee, not your Denny’s truck driver weak as brown water cup of fake coffee, not your establishment friendly cup of coffee, Not your FBI coffee, Not FAKE Herbal coffee substitute, but a real cup of coffee, not your farmer brothers dinner crap, not made in America for Americans, not safe for work, not your Starbucks average expensive overpriced crappy corporate chain cup of coffee, Not pretentious, Not White House approved, not State Department safe, nuclear, Not Patriotic, operatic, Peets’s coffee approved, paranoid, pornographic, psychotic, pontific, politically aware, rapping, rhyming, right here, right now in River city, rock and roll up the Yazoo, sad, sadistic, sarcastic, sassy, satanic, schizoid, shitting, silly, sexy, smarmy, smelly, smooth, snarky, snarling, stupid, stinking, sweet as honey, sweat inducing, symphonic, Trump can’t handle this coffee, vengeful, Wagnerian, wicked, with nutmeg and cinnamon swirls, with a hint of stevia, with a hint of vanilla, with a hint of rum, with a hint of whisky, with a hint of cherry, with a hint of fruit overtones, with a hint of drugs spicing up the coffee, spendific, speeding, splendid, superior accept no substitutes, survived the Vietnam war, the Iraq war, the Afghan war, the first and Second Korean war, World War 11, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on black people, the sexual revolution, Soulful as a summer’s night in MOTOWN- James Brown approved, TOP approved, Berkeley approved, the coffee that Jimmy Hendrix drank before he died, the coffee that Elvis drank on his last breakfast, the coffee that Barry White crooned as he drank his cup of coffee – and the coffee that made the white boy play stand up and play that funky music, the coffee that made Jonny B Goode play his guitar, and made Jonny bet the devil his soul after he drank his morning cup of righteous coffee and the coffee that make the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll, the coffee your mother warned you against drinking, the coffee that Napoleon drank when he became the Emperor of all Europe, the Coffee that Beethoven drank when he wrote the Ninth symphony, the coffee that Mozart drank as he wrote his last symphony, the coffee that Lincoln drank before he was killed, the Hemingway drank before he killed himself, the coffee that started the 60’s, and ended the 20th century, the coffee that Lenin drank as he plotted revolution, the coffee that Hitler and Stalin drank with FDR as they divided up the world after World War 11, the cup that JFK drank before he was blown away, the coffee Jerry drinks while driving in cars with random celebrities and political figures, the coffee that Jon Stewart drinks before he goes on an epic take down of some foolish politico, the cup of Arabic coffee that Sadaam drank the day he was executed, the coffee that GW and Cheney drank when they bombed Baghdad, the Indian cup of coffee that Bid Laden drank before 9-11 and just before the seals blew his ass to hell, the cup of coffee that Tiger Woods drank with his mistresses while playing a 3, 000 dollar round of golf at Sandy Lane golf course in Barbados, the last legal drug that does what drugs should do, the cup of coffee that Obama drank when he became President, Vietnamese, Vienna brew, wacky, whimsical, Whisky Tango Foxtrot, wild, weird, wonderful, WOW, Yabba dabba doo! Yada Yada yada Zappa’s favorite cup of cosmic coffee, and Zorro’s last cup of coffee, Good to the last drop rolled into one simple cup of hot coffee

As I pound down that first cup of coffee
And fire up my synaptic nerve endings with endless supplies
Of caffeine induced neuron enhancing chemicals

I face the dawning day with trepidation and mind-numbing fear
I turn on the TV and watch the smarmy newscasters in their perfect hair
Lying through their teeth about the great success the government is having Following the great leader’s latest pronouncements

I want to scream and shoot the TV
And run out side Shouting “Stop the world.
I want to get off this fucking crazy planet”

The earth does not care a whit about my attitude
It merely shrugs and moves around the Sun
In its appointed daily run
And I sit down

The madness dissipating a bit
And enjoy my second cup
Of heaven and hell
In my morning cup of Joe