February 2021 – Artvilla

Janet Kuypers’ Book Readings 2/7/18 in Community Poetry @ Half Price Books

March 1, 2021February 28, 2021 by Janet Kuypers

February 7^th marked a February 2018 Book Release Reading of new books from Scars Publications, which saw the release of the books “Question Everything” from cc&d magazine; and “Renegade Winter” from Down in the Dirt magazine. In his reading, Janet Kuypers read performance art haiku and poetry material from the show “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” that appeared in cc&d magazine’s book, and haiku as well as poetry from “Renegade Winter”.

Because collection books – and issue collection books – have also been recently released, Janet Kuypers also read material from the 2017 Scars Publications collection books that were recently released, and was able to share poetry. In separate readings, she read her poetry from the the cc&d September-December 2017 issue collection book “Language of Untamed Spirit” — and the poetry and prose collection anthology “On a Rainy Day”.

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers at her 2/7/18 “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” Austin feature reading, reading her haiku “don’t” and her “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” poems “Xerostomia” & “Utopia Never Happened” from the cc&d 2/18 book “Question Everything” to people live (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers at her 2/7/18 “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” Austin feature reading, reading her haiku “don’t” and her “Our Cultural Independence and Achieving Global Freedom” poems “Xerostomia” & “Utopia Never Happened” from the cc&d 2/18 book “Question Everything” to people live (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pint erest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers at her 2/7/18 “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” Austin feature reading, reading from “Renegade Winter” her haiku “enemy” and her poems “a Happy Ending to Everything” and “a Crack in the Glass”, then from the poetry from the cc&d September-December 2017 issue collection book “Language of Untamed Spirit” she read her poems “erasure poem: The Meaning of Art” and “Dilemmas in Gift Giving”, then she read from the poetry and prose collection anthology “On a Rainy Day” she read her poems “Smelling Sulfur on 9/11”, “Orders”, and “the Battle at Hand” (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).

Thanks to Thom Woodruff for photographing Janet Kuypers reading from the pcc&d 2/18 book “Question Everything” (with an Antarctica cover photo) 2/7/18 during her “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” Austin feature.

Thanks to Thom Woodruff for photographing Janet Kuypers reading from the proof copy of the recently released Down in the Dirt 2/18 perfect-bound paperback book “Renegade Winter” 2/7/18 during the “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” Austin feature.

Thanks to Thom Woodruff for photographing Janet Kuypers reading from the proof copy of the recently released issue collection book “Language of Untamed Spirit” — 2/7/18 during the “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” Austin feature.

Thanks to Thom Woodruff for photographing Janet Kuypers reading from the proof copy of the poetry and prose collection anthology “On a Rainy Day” plus other new books 2/7/18 during the “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” Austin feature.

The “January 2018 Book Release Reading” series of multiple book through “Community Poetry @ Half Price Books” in Austin, TX, also has a Scars Publications web page for this show, which contains video, poetry, and photography links.

The Vietnam Effect | Poem by Jennifer Schoch

February 24, 2021February 24, 2021 by David Michael Jackson

The Vietnam Effect
by Jennifer Schoch

The aroma of lilac drew me
away from my son
quiet as a crystal bowl in his stroller,
the early curious mosquitos almost kept us home.
Am I able to appreciate
this lilac,
her symmetrical perfection, without conjuring your pain?
I am fearful of this flower
I am panicked by her swift impermanence,
of my inability to hold her comforting fragrance
for those mostly marshmallowed mugs of hot chocolate days,
sequestered from the dirty New Jersey snow
where the radiators’ imbalance
from room to room
would make you yell when we opened the windows just a crack
“Goddamn waste of money!”
And the belts sang in their choir on the back of the closet door,
because the boys were fighting over remote controls again
And then, after my downward gaze had watched your darkness dissipate into the cracks
between the hardwood floors,
You would read me Shakespeare:
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
Is this
why I ran away?
To places where there are no seasons
to the endless
summer days,
where flowers never seem to die.
Your toes were stained with cigarette ash the last time I kissed you goodbye.
Did I
even kiss you?
You hadn’t showered for weeks
and I was scared.
Scared of your skin
scared of your scents
scared of my
shame.
The blue of your eyes was bright
against the rivers of bloodshot.
Mom says your eyes were green
It’s like she never knew you.

Sad and lonely, you asked me to stay
“Live here.”
You said.
“I hate LA.”
Like my brothers also bound to plastic liters?
They were small like my boy,
like you were once.
I am fearful in the face of this flower and her reminders.
Your grandson screams now like a broken dish
and
I wonder if you are there
silently crying
out into the black jungle for God to spare you
for your mother
for a future with mom
for a future with me
with a grandson you will never meet.
How could you have known this jungle
it would never leave?
Dying on the old hardwood floor in May
did you make it to the yard that Spring?
The worst death you died is not your final fall
it is the tree outside our window
cowering with dainty, dusty stars
you could not notice.
Did you glance outside that morning
and think to tell me of the lilacs that had bloomed?
Was your fall swift?
A small, unopened purple “bud of May”
gently shaken free?
The pain you healed, my father,
by noticing the lilacs
reading Shakespeare in Irish accents.
The unfolding damage it has caused,
in the tiniest creations
this unreconciled war from long ago.

Jennifer Schoch is a recent graduate of the University of Southern California where she received a master’s degree in Social Work. She is currently staying home with her young son while contributing as a writer for a book on social work and the arts. She has written, performed and directed for the screen and stage.

Artvilla Sampler | Our Music on Spotify

February 11, 2021 by David Michael Jackson

Artvilla Sampler

Here is a sample of our first playlist on Spotify. We’d appreciate your plays and support for our artists and efforts. Thank you!