Seven Poets Recite (Cathy Wittmeyer, Kristen Gundlach, Emma Paris, Joanne Jagoda, Jaime Lam, Sophia Zhang, Phynne~ Belle)

Rrroast ssuckling pi-ig, a smacking of his lips
& we are thrilled by his trilling Rs & hissing Ss.
We like the sound and take his recommendation…

Excerpt from Succulent

Cathy Wittmeyer hosts the Word to Action poetry retreat in the Alps. Her chapbook, knotted, was a finalist for the 2020 Broken River Prize and the 2022 Minerva Rising Dare to Be… contest. Her work has appeared in Superpresent, Tangled Locks Journal and Book of Matches among others. She is an engineer / lawyer, mom and poet from Buffalo, NY.

The butcher,
The baker,
The candlestick maker
Had a secret they shared…

Excerpt from The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker

Kristen is a mixed media artist working at the intersection of medicine, art and ecology. By way of her medical background, she’s interested in the physical tensions that exist within and beyond us, embracing influence of spirit, story and human connection. Interested in the unseen underlayer, she weaves Jungian psychology and archetypes into storytelling via memory, time and dreams with a focus on the alchemy of healing.

I imagine this season as a dream of becoming apple and harrow.
Leaving a skin shed in the bathtub instead of tears…

Excerpt from My Daughter: Erotica Goddess

My name is Emma Paris, I am a 16-year-old, queer poet living in Putney, Vermont. I have been writing poetry intensively for over 5 years, some of my most recent publications and accomplishments include: receiving 5 Silver Keys and 7 Gold Keys, including an American Voices Nomination from Scholastic Art and Writing Awards 2023; poetry published in Chautauqua “Close Encounters” 2023; attending the Governors Institute of the Arts 2022 in Castleton Vermont; attending the Next Galaxy Poetry Retreat with Bianca Stone and Arisa White in 2021.

I would have called you “Oma”
You would have called me “Little Doll”…

Excerpt from I Would Have Called you Oma

After retiring, one inspiring writing workshop launched Joanne Jagoda of Oakland, California on an unexpected writing trajectory. Her short stories, poetry and creative nonfiction appear on-line and in numerous print anthologies including The Awakenings Review, Dreamers Magazine, Passager, A Poet’s Siddur, Persimmon Tree, Better After 50, The Write Launch, Heat the Grease We’re Frying up Some Poetry, Project Healthy Love (Riza Press) and Still You, Poems of Illness and Healing. She received a Pushcart Prize nomination and has won a number of contests. In 2022, Joanne received first place in the Gemini Open Poetry competition. Writing helped her get through challenging times like her breast cancer diagnosis. Her first book of poetry My Runaway Hourglass, Seventy Poems Celebrating Seventy Years was conceived during the pandemic, (Poetica Publications, 2020). Joanne also had the opportunity to work with several well-known poets during the pandemic. She enjoys taking Bay Area and national writing workshops, and spoiling her seven grandchildren who call her Savta.

I watched her cut watermelon in the kitchen
the way mothers just do. These days…

Excerpt from Severing

Jaime Lam is a biracial, queer woman who is quietly from the corn part of Illinois, currently fawning over the moss in Savannah, Georgia. She graduated from Knox College with a degree in English as well as Creative Writing, attempting to conquer three genres: creative nonfiction, poetry, and urban fantasy. On one hand, she writes trauma with a flourish in an attempt to beautify the ugly. On the other, she plays in witches, werewolves, and ghosts. In general, she wishes everyone to drink water, breathe, and eat chocolate if you can.

I am a daughter of yellow clay. Of white ribs.
Of two worlds cleaved through their middle….

Excerpt from Lost in Translation

Sophia Zhang is a current highschool junior from the Bay Area. She’s been awarded by Scholastic, Youngarts, and Women on Writing for her work and creative nonfiction. When not writing, you can find her listening to Taylor Swift or chowing down on chips!

I want to cut my heart out of my chest
be my own offering, to you, because you….

Excerpt from Junebugs

Phynne~Belle is a San Francisco Bay Area poet, writer, and co-director of The Poetry Global Network. She had her poetry included in two poetry anthologies in 2021, Sinew: Ten Years of Poetry in the Brew and The Bronx Memoir Project Anthology Vol. V. This year, she has contributed to PGN’s first anthology, Kaleidoscopoetry, which includes works from poets across the globe. Phynne has one poetry collection titled, Some Days, Here. You can also find her holding her a bimonthly online open mic on 2nd & 4th Thursdays, as well as organize other poetry events and programs through her Phynnecabulary platform that endeavor to make the literary arts (poetry in particular) accessible widely. Phynne used to be a superhero of creatures big and small in a past life.