Parisian Phoenix Publishing

Our local Barnes & Noble has a poetry open mic about two times a month. That’s Barnes & Noble 2210 at the Southmont Shopping Center in Bethlehem Township, Pa. The community relations manager there, Ron, has asked me to table at PoetPallooza II as a local publisher (and he’s very active on social media, great with local authors and nice to my peeps too, anyone who keeps inviting Ralph Greco Jr. and Joseph Swarctz into the store must be a pretty special person).

I arrived at the café very early, and with a drink from Panera in hand, I settled in to work on my ghostwriting project, the mafia novel tentatively titled Secrets Wrapped in White Tablecloth.

(Which I googled that title on the Barnes & Noble website for fun and received some occult books, not titled that, and books like White Sand Secrets, White Lies & Secret Wishes and my personal favorite, Pictures of Cocks with a rooster on the cover, suggested as a white elephant gift. Which reminds me of the time I proposed the idea of a black-and-white coffee table book of nude men from around the world.)

Anyway.

After a few minutes I found myself still thirsty, over caffeinated and jittery so I moseyed to the counter and despite by adoration for Starbucks’ cold brew and pistachio… mmmm, pistachio, I bought a Pellegrino with the quarters from my kitchen change jar and also purchased the Kingfisher book, What Moves the Dead, because it was a “hot café pick” and only $5.

Apparently the cooler at our local Barnes has malfunctioned, so the clerk offered me some ice to which I declined, making him snigger when I said I would pretend I was in Europe. He could do math and appreciated my joke so needless to say, he was not of the younger generation.

I returned to my work, and the poetry folks trickled in. The flowerly language is intentional here folks! It was Noble Quills, the hills are alive with the sound of verse. (Sidetracked again on movies-way-older-than I am– did you see Glynis Johns died today at age 100? Who is Glynis Johns? Shame on you! She was the mother in Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews. Just watch the clip at the end of the entry.)

The prompts for the workshop included our intentions for the year and earthquake. I was in the middle of my intentions poem when I reach a point where I could add an earthquake so I combined them.

And then to cap the night, I read my work at the open mic. Something I have not done before. The video clip is a time lapse. And you will note, I did not wear my trademark pink.

I also volunteer to bring “materials” sponsored by Parisian Phoenix to the next workshop, February 1, 2024, which if you are pagan is Imbolc. That’s the day to strengthen your ties with nature and dedicate your efforts to a fertile crop season. I suppose I’m celebrating by distributing items to spur that creative energy. At that workshop, I will have 12 swag bags to distribute on a first-come, first-served basis. I’ve already started to assemble them.