Nick Barrows
October 30
7 p.m.
October 30
7 p.m.
NICK BARROWS is a Cincinnati, Ohio native whose words have appeared in Forklift, Ohio: A Journal of Poetry, Cooking, & Light Industrial Safety, Trained Monkey Press, Semantikon, and several Aurore Press anthologies. He has been performing poetry for over twenty years, from Kaldi’s Coffeehouse to Word of Mouth Cincinnati at MOTR Pub.
His self-published title Rockets on Bibles was released in 2007, and the co-authored Versus with Mark Flanigan was published by Aurore Press in 2012, the latter of which CityBeat called “a prodding of humanity and the human psyche that is sometimes dark, sometimes ethereal and sometimes humorous.” Also a musician, his escapades in that realm include the bands Eagle To Squirrel, JetLab, Jack Burton Overdrive, and MacReady U.K. Nick views his works not as a form of instruction, but more as a cautionary tale. * * * Word of Mouth Cincinnati, which began in January 2014, is co-hosted by fellow writers Jim Palmarini and Mark Flanigan. It was founded in memory of the late Aralee Strange who, after many years living, writing and producing work in the Cincinnati area, moved to Athens, Georgia where she co-founded Athens Word of Mouth. WoMC is an intentional arc of both past and future utterance, inspired by our most revered voice, with a nod to her Athens, GA compatriots. Word of Mouth asks poets to Show Up, Mouth Off and Pay Attention. Admission to Word of Mouth Cincinnati is free and open to all ages, although some content may contain adult themes and language. MOTR Pub 1345 Main Street Cincinnati, OH 45202. |
November
When it is this gray When it is just almost rain When it is just this gloom When it is this overcast When it is just this November I want to be a jazz musician A drunk jazz musician A three in the morning gig jazz musician Playing for booze jazz musician A plastered Too many cigarettes Maybe have a junk problem jazz musician Living in a crappy motel In the middle of a crappy part of a crappy cruel ghetto city jazz musician Living on beans & franks, coffee, cigarettes, booze, and maybe speed jazz musician Maybe had a hit or two when I was younger When I had a belly full of fire jazz musician Not a belly full of beans & franks, coffee, cigarettes, booze and maybe speed jazz musician Got kicked out of the Blue Wisp for passing out on stage jazz musician Got kicked out of the Blue Note recording sessions for stepping all over the lead jazz musician Got kicked out of the corner shop for being belligerent Had to get my axe out of hock a few times Showing up to the gig late jazz musician “Have you heard this guy So much soul Now this is jazz” jazz musician “He recorded this high At three in the morning Man, he can really cook” jazz musician “What ever happened to him” “I don’t know” “I think he died a few years ago” jazz musician “That’s a damn shame They don’t make them like that anymore” “You got that right” jazz musician Oh these gray Gloomy Overcast Almost rain just November days Creeping into me in the most subtle style Where is my sax anyway? |