Hearsay Poetry

Four poets walked into a room and…well. We shared poetry. This episode of Hearsay Poetry is simple and sweet. Featuring a handful of works from Austin poets Jack McCabe, Elaine Fife, Laine Thompson, and myself. Sit back, listen, and we hope you enjoy.Jack McCabe, a Rhode Island-born singer-songwriter, poet, and artist, decided Austin, Texas was the right place to be after many years of working on the railroad. Known around town as "Magic Jack," Austin's flourishing art and music community appeals to him as much as the weather (aka it's all good). Jack majored in fine arts, obtaining a BFA from the University of Rhode Island and a minor in Philosophy. He currently focuses on songwriting, performing, poetry, activism, and supporting the arts in Austin Texas.Laine Thompson has been writing most of his life. The first open mic he hosted was in Rochester, NY at a place called Starry Nites café. When he moved to Austin, TX in 2006 he jumped into the open mic scene and was eventually introduced to Kickbutt Cafe where he became a co-host of the Austin open mic Spoken and Heard. With fellow hosts Ernie B. and Hot Tamale, Laine adopted the stage name Lost In Thought. You can see some of Laine’s poetry on his fan page, facebook.com/litfaceup.Elaine Fife is a San Martian poet and author. She is the host of the San Marcos open mic Poet’s Universe and Facebook group Poetry and Art Share. She believes in sharing artistic expression to further understanding and love between people. Her writing focuses on universal feelings and metaphorical expression. She uses her gifts to connect others and hold space for intense emotional exploration. When she isn't writing she's going to school to become a therapist, practicing yoga or tarot, and manifesting beautiful things. She does everything with the goal of the higher ascension of community and family in mind.

Mathew Clouser is a poet and bon vivant. His works include Dereliction Omnibus, and the forthcoming Who Do You Think Works Here? He has worked in varying editorial capacities at The Rio Review and DUENDE. He lives in Austin, Texas where he is a volunteer with Chicon Street Poets. Take a listen as we discuss his recent thesis on mischief in poetics, the world of Pataphysics (to understand it is to misunderstand it), the evolution of language and form, and the perpetual abstract world. “Is a tree weird in the forest if no one is there to see it?” -Mathew Clouser, The Hearsay Poetry Podcast. Referenced Literature:Trickster Makes This World, Lewis HydePataphysics: A Useless Guide, Andrew HugillZong!, M. NourbeSe PhilipMat can be found canoodling with the Bookhouse Boys collective, and on-line @sumocartwheel.

This is a special podcast (see title). This is a Hearsay Poetry Podcast of firsts: going live, featuring live music, and sharing a little bit of life during this strange time of quarantine. Please note and forgive any “live” moments, such as responding to Facebook comments or invisible hand gestures that don’t make sense. While I love producing this podcast and would love nothing more than to spend hours of my free quarantine time editing this audio down to a perfect listener experience, eh. It’s all gravy baby. Also, we should all know too well now that time isn’t free. Enjoy listening. And watch the live video on Facebook.Jack Schultz started playing piano at the age of five. At sixteen he started to teach himself guitar and began writing songs. He found a bass guitar at the crossroads while the devil was taking a nap. He’s been laying down bass ever since, even picking up the upright bass to keep the devil off his back. Jack currently plays in four Austin bands: Choctaw Wildfire, The Swamp Bats (bass), Underwater Ghost Town, and Milicent Hughes (guitar).

What does it mean to bring a life lived into art? What is your truth? What are the similarities between music, writing, visual arts, and dance? Listen as poet Edith “Blackbird” and I discuss the various ways artists bring their experiences, both personal and external into their work, the diversity of voice, and Edith’s own development as a multi-media poet. Edith was born in the capital of Mexico but raised in Sinaloa state, in a small town near the Pacific coast. She started to participate in local events since elementary school like “Civil Mondays”, writing patriotic and traditional poems to perform for government members at the time alongside some classmates. In middle school, she competed in a statewide contest, winning second place. In 2005, she won second place in the nationwide contest, representing her high school. The Sonora University awarded her an honorable mention for her participation in their regional contest with the piece “Plegarias de Una Luna Enamorada” and was published in their anthology Realidad Aleatoria. In this same year, she discovered Jaime Sabines, a Mexican poet who's work project deep themes about love, loneliness, existential anxiety, and death, impregnated by his own feelings, which show the reality of a changing and decaying society.Now living in Austin since 2017, Edith attends open mics around the city sharing her bilingual art. She has been featured twice for the “Austin Poetry Society” monthly event in 2018. She has won three Hearsay Poetry Ekphrastic Challenges, published on hearsaypoetry.com.

There are more things in the air this month besides love, heart-shaped balloons, or the societal expectations of mass-produced consumerist holidays (this podcast for example). If you are reading this, chances are you are listening. Though if you haven’t started listening yet, I promise at least an hour’s worth of wonderful discussion about the function of poetry to a poet, the use of metaphor and imagery, how my guest Susan found her poetic voice after writing novels, a ton of fuss and sass from Sgt. Pepper the dog, and a handful of wonderful poetry.Susan Niz's most recent chapbook, Left-Handed Like a Lightning Whelk, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2019. Her first poetry chapbook is Beyond this Amniotic Dream (Beard Poetry, Minneapolis, 2016). Her short work has appeared in Wanderlust Journal, The Write Launch, Chaleur Magazine, Typishly, Tipton Poetry Journal, Carnival Literary Magazine, Crack the Spine, Blue Bonnet Review, Two Words For, Belleville Park Pages, Ginosko, Cezanne’s Carrot, Flashquake, Opium Magazine, and Summerset Review. She has been featured in live poetry shows in Minneapolis. Susan writes across genres. Her novel Kara, Lost (North Star Press, 2011) was a finalist for a Midwest Book Award (MIPA) for Literary Fiction. She has a Master’s Degree in Education, raises kids, has been a grassroots community organizer, and conserves Monarchs. She recently relocated from Minneapolis, Minnesota to the Austin, Texas area.

Listen as Dane and I discuss writing origins, periods of writers’ block, a bit o’ writing influences, and a TON of meandering philosophical ideas regarding life, death, consciousness, social media, religion, language, and who knows what else. And of course, we also read poetry.Dane grew up in Temple, TX, studied classics at Notre Dame, and moved to Austin eight years ago. An artist who made a pragmatic turn, he learned to build software and discovered how beautiful digital machinery can be. He returned to writing and performing poetry last year after a long hiatus and draws inspiration from french philosophy and the modernists, specifically Gilles Deleuze and D.H. Lawrence. Find him performing at poetry open mics around town.

What is the balance of an artistic life? What does success look like? How do people and the environment influence creative growth? Listen to poet and writer Jennifer Hill and I discuss her life’s road to becoming a writer, her various roles in the literary world, and how success has shifted over the years. We also share wonderfully crafted poems from Jennifer’s father Charles Hill, niece Daniela Tejeda, E.E. Cummings, and of course, Jennifer. jenniferhr.wordpress.com/@danielapoetryBorn in San Antonio, Jennifer Hill is a writer, editor and content developer living in Austin, Texas. She graduated with a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College, where she served as a poetry editorial assistant for Ploughshares. She has worked as a story analyst in Los Angeles, a reporter in Boston and a freelance writer and editor in Austin.

Daniel Benjamin is a wordsmith originally from Dallas, TX, now residing in Austin. His influences range from beatniks to the Bible. This range of influences surfaces in his writing as dry honest inflection with rhythm and rhymes that mirror the poets of the late ‘50s to early ‘60s. Listen as Daniel and I discuss the ever-changing times and its influence on state of mind, writing, and collective sentiment. We cover the dark and light-hearted sides of living, from states of hopeless existence to silly paper-bag poetry.Daniel also does music booking and promotion under the moniker DumbProphet and works as a Carpenter. You can see him perform (usually) at Hearsay Poetry, which is held the second Fridays of every month at Infinite Monkey Theorem, 8pm.

What does it mean to be an artist? What is the balance between the creative end product, the sense of self, and the exchange with the audience? Listen to Jim Trainer, singer-songwriter, poet, and journalist, discuss his pursuit to share candid moments, break down the fourth wall, and to bring the reader into all situations. “It’s all about the authentic life. Poetry is for the people. That’s who it’s for.” -Jim Trainer.Singer-songwriter, journalist and curator of Going For The Throat—a weekly publication of cynicism, outrage, correspondence and romance. Jim Trainer publishes one collection of poetry and prose every year through Yellow Lark Press. Love&Wages is his 5th. Please visit jimtrainer.net for his collections, and for music, film and appearances.Love&Wages doesn’t veer from the street level often, but flies fancifully when it does, in the thrall and arms of lovers past, real and imagined. Largely written during Trainer’s return to hard labor in the Fall and Winter of 2018, Love&Wages is an industrial pastoral and not a kind one but for the hardworking men and women who move through the collection, at odds and finding for grace among the rigors of blue-collar life. For all the romance Trainer strips away from labor with his work poems, his tributes to lovers overflow, are devotional and muse-like and as close as he can come to a reason to rise in the predawn dark and head to line and yard in the rust-colored dawn. Perhaps the only balm offered by Trainer here is with his dedication—for Dignity, as a reminder that the deal working-class men and women make is with themselves, even as their humanity is wagered as the cost of survival.

In what ways are you willing to fail? Is vulnerability necessary for success? Ponder these questions with Austin, TX native poet and musician Christina M. Jackson. Also poetry! Listen to us read pieces from Pablo Neruda, W.H. Auden, and our sweet selves.In a desire to resolve moments from the past with hope for the future, Christina M. Jackson’s creative style continually reflects both the bright and dark sides of life. Sometimes her writing reflects childlike descriptions of landscapes and troubled times whereas other times there are adult themes and urban neurosis. Being a native of Austin, Texas did help her to connect with numerous communities for musicians and writers, eventually allowing her to be published locally on several occasions. You can find her work in CC&D Magazine, the Waco, Texas Wordfest 2015 Anthology, and a video that was created by Texas Nafas. She's claimed that "lately [she's] had more of a taste for improvisation over preparation" which came in handy when she hosted two events for Austin International Poetry Festival this year. You can locate her latest works on her Facebook Page: Iron & Zen- Christina M. Jackson Poetry.

How we grow and live influences everything we do—who we are and who we continue to become does the same. As artists, these many branches stretch into the things we create. Listen to poet Jason Edwards and I discuss life, its evolution, and its binding movement with one’s art.In 1997 Jason Edwards joined the Dallas Slam Team. One year later he and his team got the first perfect score for a group piece in Slam Poetry history and won 2nd Place in the 1998 National Poetry Slam (which Time Magazine described as "triumphant"). Jason moved to Austin in 2000 and that summer went on a national tour as part of “Slam America" with 100 other poets and performed shows across the country. In 2001 Jason formed a gay performance troupe with fellow slam poet Ragan Fox called “Trigger Happy Jacks,” combining poetry, performance art, theater and comedy.Jason’s spoken word career took a halt when he lost his his trans-sister in a tragic car accident and began to experience the beginning stages of schizophrenia. Through the following years he went through many different combinations of medicated states and finally found the right combination to begin to grow as a writer once more. In 2011 he recorded an album incorporating spoken word and music. In May of 2015, Jason was asked to be featured as part of the 20th Anniversary of the Austin Slam and performed in front of his peers for the first time in over a decade. In 2016 he had the honor of opening up for the U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera. In 2019 he co-founded a writing workshop with longtime friend and poet Jena Kirkpatrick called “The Austin Poetry Salon.” He is currently working on a book chronicling his life.

How and why do we tie meaning to our lives? How does meaning from the current moment evolve over time? How do you make meaning from embarrassing moments, say, getting your skirt tucked in a bunch in your panties after a bathroom break at work? Whatever it is, storyteller and playwright Nettie Reynolds uses life and meaning in her work to pull the listener, not just in, but onto the stage and into her life. She’s a real good story-maker, promise ya.Nettie Reynolds is a kick-ass mother, a Chaplain, a PR/Marketing and social media consultant and freelancer, and a freelance health consumer/wellness content writer. She lives in the Austin area where she’s created and produced 6 live music/storytelling shows. She’s also had five plays produced professionally.

“Is that a true story?” It’s the question I’ve been dying to ask Brian Grosz for quite some time after hearing many of his wild tales—road life, bar life, chef life, artist life, musician life, encountering all kinds of life-life. Rest assured folks, they are ALL TRUE. Listen and be amazed yourself. Better yet, get yourself a copy of Brian’s amazing book, Squalor, available by print or audiobook (recommended) narrated by Brian of course. Also, Hearsay Poetry celebrates 1 year! Stay tuned for a special additional podcast with yours truly in the hot seat.A note about Brian from Brian: I like to think of myself as a "Maker." I make ideas, things, words, connections, and - every now and again - a ruckus, a scene, and a stink. Over the past 15 or so years, I've made a living as a as a computer programmer, graphic designer, stunt-driver, catering chef, fish-cutter, bouncer, bartender, waiter, roadie, photographer, journalist, painter, soap opera actor, trucker, set-decorator, art director and I was even on a Japanese game show. Twice. No lie. And I've never half-assed any of it.

David Lester Young, aka Ben Franklin is known as a “heartmospheric” poet, a poet from and for the heart in words and life. Speaking and being in the presence of David could be described as a sort of Zen, and truly, I was tempted to title this episode “Zen for the aspiring writer.” A true observer and poet of nature and humankind, David’s art is something to be experienced. I can promise you a couple of a few things in this episode—my reflection on David’s inspiring spirit and words but unfortunately, not David himself. Ah, the woes of technology got me this time. The original recording was never captured, for reasons too trivial to explain. I do promise, though, the poetry is worth the listen.A word about David: Orchestrate Earthen, bare harmonics, amongst heaven’s divine melodies. Bearhug in-between a chorus of souls, amidst – Universal Understanding Peace – Whisper ring “Peace Be With You.”Each day poetry takes stepping stone steps to ponder amid rhyme.Find more of David’s work at authorsden.com/davidlesteryoung

Is this episode about neuroscience? Philosophy of mind? What is freewill? What is reality? What are corners? Do holes even exist? Poet Mason McClay shocks people for a living. Literally. To study fear. Listen to Mason discuss these things and how the happenstance of life influences everything poetic.Twice removed from your local pond's turtle family, much of what Mason writes is an attempt to communicate with shelled reptiles. That inevitably fails, however, and he returns to a generic psychonautic trajectory of personal and experimental consciousness research. When he's not mound-sitting, Mason is usually designing ways to probe the brain or exploring new media poetics concerned with agency, locale, and the self-referentially negative nature of language.Mason is the Event Coordinator for the Austin based literary non-profit Chicon Street Poets and works as a neuroscience researcher at UT Austin. You can check out his work at mas----clay.com (site coming soon).

This is a conversation where Genevieve and I discuss and compare stories of hosting poetry events, what it means to be vulnerable during the creative process, different styles of poetry and writing, and colorful characters we’ve met along the way. All with the sonic backdrop of my dog, Pepper, incessantly licking himself.Genevieve was born in San Antonio, Tx and has been a Central Texan all her life. While residing in Austin with her husband, 3 cats, and dog, she has always strived to create community through food, art, and support. Genevieve is the host of the private (open to those who seek it) poetry and creative arts event Drink and Ink. She is also a Cowboy Poetry performer, with enough vigor to spur the imagination of any active listener.PS - Cowboy Poetry is a genre and IS RAD. Check out cowboypoetry.com.

Happy winter magic time, everyone. Welcome to this special bonus episode of Hearsay Poetry with the podcast’s music creator, Eric Bettencourt. Eric is an Austin-based singer-songwriter via Portland, Maine. Take some twisty turns with us as we discuss songwriting in relation to poetry, songwriting and songwriters in general, our feelings about Slam Poetry, a new segment called “What Eric Hates”, the dynamic political realm we live in, and much more—all peppered with a few generic interview questions to keep it real. Listen, comment, SHARE AND RATE. After all, sharing is caring, especially at this time of year. Thanks all.Eric Bettencourt is an Austin-based singer songwriter originally from Portland, Maine. To date he has released four LPs of original music and one EP of creatively expressed cover tunes. His next album, tentatively and sarcastically titled Bric-a-Brac, is slated to drop in the Spring of 2019. You can find his music and upcoming shows at Eric Bettencourt Music on Facebook. Listen to his full track from the Hearsay Poetry Podcast of Why Don’t We Do It in the Road here (feat. Spose): themaineembassy.bandcamp.com/track/why-dont-we-do-it-in-the-road-feat-spose

December is a special time of year and this is a special kind of podcast—two guests! Seasoned poet Nicole Brissette and self-taught painter Jason Baker talk art, poetry, the influence of the mind and our ever-changing world on creativity, and how each has grown into the artists they are today (spoiler, includes the work of a fortune teller). This month marks the beginning of Hearsay Poetry’s new monthly ekphrastic poetry challenge. Ekphrastic poetry is “a vivid, often dramatic, verbal description of a visual work of art, either real or imagined.” This month features Jason Baker’s painting Cathedral Iterations. Share your ekphrastic writing at the Hearsay open mic or on Facebook!

If you’re looking for a lesson in poetry and poetics then you came to the right podcast. Ben is a wealth of knowledge and wits, full of interesting tales and dry humor. Take a gander for yourself and enjoy :)Ben grew up in Houston, TX. He enrolled at the University of Texas, Austin (UT), in 1968 and has lived here ever since. In the 1970s he worked at the UT library system to finance his graduate studies while also publishing poems. During this time he traveled to Europe, Mexico, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. For a while he was a busker on the drag across from the UT campus, reciting famous poems he committed to memory (which he can still do). In 1980 Ben took a break from his studies to start a small import company specializing in art and artifacts from the Himalayas, which helped subsidize his travels. While in New Delhi he met a Thai woman who later became his wife and mother of his two children. This break from his studies wound up lasting 35 years. Recently Ben returned to UT to receive another Bachelor of Arts in history, which was completed in 2017. He considers literature his real career and continues to write poetry.

What kind of poetry do you like--political, narrative, lyrical, slam, personal, none, don't care, just-want-a-conversation? Well, Jena Kirkpatrick is an all-around treat of a wordsmith and conversationalist no matter what style of poetry you may or may not be into. Though, if you are reading this and/or listening to the podcast, chances are you do like poetry. As we discuss, poetry is not just poetry for poetry's sake, but as most art forms, is the essence beyond it's own bounds. Jena's outlook on poetry and what it means to be human reflects in her daily work as a poetry instructor and poet for hire within the Austin community. Listen with us in your car, at home, at work or wherever. Leave a comment or two. Rate on iTunes. Join the conversation. Write a poem. As Jena says, "writer's block is a myth." Sharing stories is human nature and I'm so happy to be sharing this lovely lady's story with you.

Well, it isn't a conversation if most responses don't start or end in a poem. At least, that's the way with Spirit Thom and it's a true poet's spirit he keeps. Listen on as we discuss life, travels, the heart of the common man, philosophical tid-bits, poetry, more poetry, and so on. Listen as yours truly chokes in awe as this bright man knits art into the conversation, a moment of woven words.Thom Woodruff is originally from Queensland, Australia where he discovered music and poetry as a young man. Now living in Austin, Texas, he spends most of his time traversing the poetry scene in bright colors and with bold performances. He often marries his poetry with music, seeing both as equally strong components in the delivery. His prominence in the community goes beyond the spoken word and into his hand-crafted poetry journals, which he distributes for free at every event. He describes himself as a "global radical networker and activist for promoting the live creative arts at every possible opportunity." You can read his personal poetry blog at thomworldpoet.blogspot.com .*podcast music done by Eric Bettencourt: eric.bet

Poetry, the state of living, the state of thinking, the state of non-thinking, existential questions, economic/political thoughts, this and that--whatever happened here stays here (and in your ears). Listen now, The Poetic Butcher on Hearsay. David Julian, aka The Poetic Butcher, was born and raised in the Big N.O. (Old New Orleans, La.). He moved to Lexington, KY a few days after the devastating Hurricane Katrina to live with his mother and stepfather. As a chef and butcher at a Kroger Marketplace in eastern Lexington, he animated the clientele with his trademark flair and used his charming voice and impeccable grammatical syntax to promote his meat and seafood products via intercom. His energetic, flavor-injected announcements were a trademark of the marketplace and set this gregarious chap above the rest. He now resides in Austin, TX, bringing wordsmith joy to the masses.

Welcome to the inaugural Hearsay Poetry poet interview with the one, the only, Magic Jack McCabe. Find a seat, perk up your ears, and listen as we travel through the wonderful world of Jack's thoughts, his art, how he defines poetry in his life, weird catholic school stories, and a few odd tangents along the way.