Other People's Poems

08/12/2024

As Alua Arthur of Going with Grace End of Life Planners said...
GOOD GOOGLY MOOGLY!

08/02/2024

THANK YOU to LINDSAY VIGUE PHOTOGRAPHY for these beauuuutiful photos from our second birthday! 🥳

(i dunno why Facebook won't let folks tag... Will post on my personal page, too!)

See you tonight for the 25th OPP! 🥰

07/29/2024

OPP vol. 25 is THIS FRIDAY!
Do you have your poem yet?
🤔

Send a message to learn more

07/04/2024

OPP fans!!! Hartford Flavor Company has opened their MIND-BLOWINGLY BEAUTIFUL new parlor on Pratt Street!!!

Celebrate by TREATING YOURSELF: https://tables.toasttab.com/restaurants/e825b048-7402-4e9c-b4dd-2a588eeddd94/findTime?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2lIT9kXV9wsoXwvSZfwJrr_tNkZvl5KaEBDwY7nC0DrZuqhXsZmizfE48_aem_sA6HXQXDAPjC2d9Oo92ApQ

06/08/2024

Here is OPP Vol. 23!
(feel free to send corrections)

Thank you to everybody who read a poem that they love!

NEXT MONTH IS OUR SECOND BIRTHDAY! See you at Hartford Flavor Company on July 5! 🎂

-Chion Wolf - “Baseball“ by B.A. Van Sise
-Yani - “Basic Teachings of Johnisms“ / “Confucianism is“
-Carissa Teff - “On Children“ by Khalil Gibran
-Russell - “Say I Am You“ by Rumi
-Judy Garfinkel - “What Do You Want To Be?“ By Steven Lewis
-Theodora Ruhs - “The Tide Rises, The Ride Falls“ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
-Pamela Morrison-Wolf - “If“ by Rudyard Kipling
-Stephanie Silver - “At Seventy“ by Judith Viorst
-Kate Byroade - “Love Poem With Apologies For My Appearance“ by Ada Limón
-Allison Kane - “That's How You Know“ by Lori McKenna
-Laura Martineau - “At The Smithville Methodist Church“ by Stephen Dunn
-Margaret Rousseau - “No Ordinary Sun“ by Hone Tuwhare
-Michael Veillette - “Heaven“ by Julie Gold
-Toni - “There Are No More Memories In The Making“ by Sara Rian
-Erin Lemkin - “It's Not Me“ by Chris Cheney
-Aaron Scott - “For The Straights Who Don't Mind G**s But Wish They Weren't So Blatant“ by Pat Parker
-Abby Bunz - “Looking At The Cat's Balls“ by Charles Bukowski
-Casey Rousseau - “A Time To Talk“ by Robert Frost
-Daniel Rodriguez-Schlorff - “Prayer For The Living“ by Tess Baumberger
-Krista - “Your Life“ by Andrea Gibson
-Bob - “Coney Island Of The Mind #9“ by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
-B - “Dear Mom Love Me For Me“ by Space Gay 17
-Julia - “How To Be A Good Ally“

05/31/2024

We are ONE WEEK AWAY from OPP Vol. 23! Do you have your poem yet?

UPDATE: To avoid having a sleepover at Hartford Flavor Company (although that would be cool), we will wrap at 9:15pm! So please keep your time at the mic to 3 minutes or less, so we can get to as many wild cards as possible. Thank you! 🙏

Send a message to learn more

04/26/2024

We are ONE WEEK AWAY from OPP!
Do you have your poem yet?

Send a message to learn more

04/01/2024

OPP Volume 21 is THIS FRIDAY! 🥳
Do you have your poem yet? 🤔

Send a message to learn more

03/01/2024

Since the list always fills up so fast, this is the new way we are doing things!
We will pull names until the folks at Hartford Flavor Company kick us out! 🤣
Sign-ups are at 6:30, and now the readings start at 7pm SHARP!
https://www.facebook.com/events/972522541122450/972522574455780/

01/26/2024

We are one week away from the next installment of OPP! Do you have your poem yet?

Thanks to Jessica Martinez for this lovely photo of me and my mom, Pamela Morrison-Wolf! Who DEFINITELY already has her poem picked out! 🥰

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/236711646148523/?ref=newsfeed

10/27/2023

We are ONE WEEK AWAY from OPP!
Do you have your poem yet? 🤔

10/16/2023

Thanks, Dawn Ennis and CT Voice for covering Other People's Poems!
Mark your calendar: Every first Friday at Hartford Flavor Company!

“Something special happens every single time, and not just like eerie coincidences. Themes evolve that touch so many people in the room,” Wolf said. “Every single time, something extraordinary happens. And that, I think, is a combination of the people who are drawn to an event like this and the spirit of the idea that, in the first place, poetry can speak for all the ways that we share this wild human experience.”

https://ctvoice.com/2023/09/24/chion-wolf-celebrates-one-year-of-reciting-other-peoples-poems/

***r

09/29/2023

How convenient! We are one week away from the next OPP, and this lovely article by Dawn Ennis is published by CT Voice!
Thank you, Dawn!
See you all on Friday, October 6th! ❤️

Chion Wolf Celebrates One Year of Reciting Other People’s Poems Share via: Roses are red, violets are blue; Our Chion Wolf is the emcee of something fun and new. It’s called “Other People’s Poems,” and this past July, the CT Public Radio host marked a full year of the once-a-month free eve...

09/02/2023

We ❤️ Dawn!!!

CT Public's Chion Wolf hosts this monthly gathering every first Friday at Hartford Flavor Company, a night to enjoy poetry and community. This was my last on...

08/23/2023

My name is Blair, and I’ll be your server today. To start, I have just one question: What will you do with your one wild and precious appetizer?

Toasted ravioli? Excellent choice. That’s one of my faves—a tender prayer of cheese embraced by crispy breadcrumbs, bringing gentle solace amid what nourishes us.

Welcome to Mary Oliver Garden, home of Italian-adjacent cuisine and poignant observations about the human condition as it intersects with the natur...

07/11/2023

Eeeeeeeeeee!!! What an extraordinary line-up of poets! AND IT IS FREE!
See you at Connecticut Public on August 10th!

Join us for an evening with State Poet Laureate Antoinette Brim-Bell and the Witness Stones Old Lyme Poets.

07/08/2023

As I reflect on the packed house and packed poetry readings of last night's OPP anniversary, I am feeling so freakin' grateful!

OPP started off because I needed more poetry in my life, and I needed to change the energy in my living space - inside and out.

I knew that welcoming poetry - and people who love poetry! - into that space would be healing. Would make me laugh and feel something different than the feelings I had been steeping in.

It worked instantly! And grew exponentially.

For a year now, we have gotten to know each other through the poems you choose. Through the stories you tell about why you chose them.

There have been tears of laughter, tears of grief, tears of relief.
And more loofahs than I ever thought possible (you win a loofah if you recite the poem from memory).

When Lelaneia Dubay came to those early installments in my backyard, she wholeheartedly offered her amazing space, Hartford Flavor Company, as another home for OPP. Lelaneia, thank you so much. I love it here.

Thank you to Susannah & Sarah at Hartford Flavor Company, who told me that they specifically request to work during this event (also thanks for always having a birch and bourbon ready for me!). Your presence makes it feel even more like family, like home.

Thank you to those who keep their first Fridays free - especially to Aaron Scott, who is the only person who has been to as many of these as I have (ALL OF THEM)!

Thanks to my mom, Pamela Morrison-Wolf, who you can see in that second picture. Through her own grief, she has shown up with courage and compassion to OPP. I love that more people are getting to know her beautiful voice and powerful spirit!

Thank you to everybody who has ever read a poem with us.
Thank you to everybody who ever snapped their fingers like crazy after a poem was finished.
Thank you for chanting, LOOFAH! LOOFAH! LOOFAH!
Thank you for bringing your friends.
Thank you for being a witness to and participant in so much growth.

I don't know the celestial mechanics behind how something magical happens EVERY FREAKIN' TIME at this thing.

But I do know that there is so much more to come, and I look forward to learning more about you through the poetry and love that you bring to OPP.

Thank you, thank you, thank you,
Chion ❤️

06/01/2023

IT'S THIS FRIDAY!
Do you have your poem yet?

05/01/2023

Volume 10 is this Friday!
Do you have your poem picked out yet?

04/07/2023

I'll add the setlist later, but here are last month's readers!
💥💥💥

04/07/2023

I can't wait to countdown to 7:30 with you tonight! ⏲️

04/02/2023

OPP is this Friday!
Do you have your poem picked out yet? 🧐

03/02/2023

It's looking like the snow will come by the time we're snug in our beds! So do keep OPP on your calendar, and we'll see you in 24 hours or so! 🥳

03/01/2023

Here are all of the readers and their poems from Volume 7!
Holler if you'd like me to send you your recording! Or if I made a mistake in my labeling.
Thanks to every poet in the room and on the page. See you for Vol. 8 on THIS FRIDAY! 🥰

- Chion Wolf - “A Mathematically Perfect Heart” by Isabelle Thompson
- Sandy McKenna - “Possibilities” by Becky Hemsley
- Jennifer LaRue - “Disobedience” by A.A. Milne
- Jessica Martinez - “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith
- Meghan Crutchley - “Listen To The Mustn'ts” by Shel Silverstein
- Drew John Ladd - “Staggerlee Wonders” by James Baldwin
- Saral Avery - “The Future” by Jacqueline Suskin
- Pamela Morrison-Wolf - “To Forgive is Not to Forget” (unknown)
- Ron Yeany - “Cat’s Dream” by Pablo Neruda
- Kate Byroade “Feeding The Worms” by Danusha Laméris
- Amy Maria Gallina - “Body And Soul” by Sharon Bryan
- Joe O’Brien - “The Question” by CK Williams
- Paul DiMauro - “The Snowman” by Wallace Stevens
- Ali Linkletter - “Exquisitely Bad Poetry for the Bourgeoisie” H.A. Van Patten II
- Aaron Scott - “We Wear The Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
- Ben Arunski - Walka Walka Bang Splat” by Fred Brenner and Steve Krauss
- Will Brady - “Musee de Bois Art” by WH Auden
- Amy Archambault Remby - “I’d Rather Be A Failure” by Edgar Albert Guest
- Boz Bozeman - “The Girl Who Should Have Been A Boy” by Alethea Cahas
- Matt Gilbert - “Country Fair” by Charles Simic
- Bri D'Alessio - “Swiss Cheese” by Wes Ward
- Christina Tom - “Ode” by Zoe Higgins
- Cassidy Molino McHenry - “Dear Moon” by Warsan Shire
- Terry Wolfisch Cole - “Bare Minimum or To-Do List for White America” by KB Brookins
- Casey Rousseau - “The Bagpipe Who Didn’t Say No” by Shel Silverstein
- Dawn Ennis - “How To Triumph Like A Girl” by Ada Limón
- Chion Wolf - “The First Poem Ever Composed in Ireland” by Amergin Glúingel

02/06/2023

OH how lovely.
I interviewed David Whyte for my show about forgiveness.
If you've never heard him speak, well, enjoy: https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2022-03-24/forgiveness-how-we-define-it-and-how-it-defines-us

BORN AGAIN

I want to be born again,
but I want to be born exactly
as I was, almost between things,
as I was in this life,
and as I want to be in the next:

Mary Teresa O’Sullivan,
nine months gone, carrying me
back to Yorkshire, her pains sharp
in Waterford,
sharper in Dublin,
the hard rolling bench of the ferry
almost my midwife.

I want to be born again,
in exactly the self-same life,
but fully aware this time,
from the inside out,
of my life to come

and to stand this time
as a beautiful un-worrying witness,
living beyond the need
for this or that;
looking with anticipation
to meeting everyone again,

the central memory always with me
of a ship making its way
through lifting water,
taking me on to a new life

the songs of the wind,
the songs of my mother,
my father’s disbelieving,
expectant face
at the ward-room window,
seeing me brought and held
to the light for the first time,

the sense of everything to come,
the sense of letting go
of everything I have held too tightly,

every single blessing, every accompanying
friend and every beckoning
horizon about to reappear again,
and always, always, the crowding,
merciful voice of the sea at my birth.
.

Adapted from
‘Born Again’
In PILGRIM
Poems by David Whyte
February 2023
..

Help Along the Road.
Photo © David Whyte
Inishboffin, Connemara.
July 2015

I caught the gaze of my mother this morning looking out at me from the little frame that sits at the corner of my desk, and imagined her and my father, poor as church mice, making their way back from Ireland in her ninth month, having visited my grandfather in Waterford who was not so well. So many elements have to conspire to birth even the most ordinary life, in even the most ordinary place, and it is that life of course, that can then bring everything around it alive too in such an extraordinary way. A spur to live, at least a little in the way we were born, 'as a beautiful unworrying witness'. DW