TAMMY ROBACKER: ARE POETS ELITIST SNOBS? >>>

Is it just me or do poets seem to get a bad rap for being elitist snobs? Personally speaking, I pride myself on being a neighborly Tacoma poet. And I know many other writers in this community feel the same way about sharing the literary love. Tacoma has a very supportive writing community, and these open arms reach out to neighboring counties too. In addition to supporting the wonderful poets, readings and open mics here in Pierce County, I make it a point to venture down to the southerly counties too because I have pleasantly discovered they have quite a thriving poetry community out yonder. I encourage you to put some South Sound poetry in your own daily planner by scheduling a little road trip in honor of the fine events cropping up all over the map this month.

You don’t want to miss award-winning poet, Phillis Levin, reading Tuesday, April 7, 6-7:30 p.m. at Orca Books (509 E. Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.352,0123). She will read from her latest work, May Day. Levin, who teaches at Hofstra University, is the author of four volumes of poetry and the editor of the Penguin Book of the Sonnet.

Celebrate National Poetry Month with Sam Green: author, bookbinder, mentor, teacher, and Washington state's first Poet Laureate. In honor of National Poetry Month, the Washington State Library is excited to announce they will be hosting our Green for an evening event Thursday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m. The public is encouraged to join this celebration of poetry in the main reading room on the second floor of the library. Doors open at 6 p.m., and seating is available on a first-come basis. For more information, contact 360.704.5269.

Last, but certainly not least, our great state capital offers poets the Olympia Poetry Network.  The OPN is a nonprofit/charitable organization dedicated to increasing literary awareness and appreciation of poetry for folks living near the southern end of Puget Sound (Thurston, Mason, Gray's Harbor and Lewis counties).

Join the OPN Wednesday, April 15, to welcome poet, Lucia Perillo, as she reads her work. Her fourth book of poems, Luck is Luck, was a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize and was awarded the Kingsley Tufts prize from Claremont University. A book of her essays, I’ve Heard the Vultures Singing, was published by Trinity University Press in 2007. Her new poetry book, from Copper Canyon Press, is Inseminating the Elephant.

OPN sponsors monthly poetry readings (a featured poet and an open mic) on the third Wednesday of each month a Traditions Fair Trade (Fifth and Water streets). Readings begin at 6:30 p.m.

Olympia poet, Casey Fuller, has been a board member for the Olympia Poetry Network for the last five years. He helps organize the various OPN workshops, events and readings. Casey is also a graduate student at Pacific Lutheran University’s Rainier Writers Workshop, and for a living he works for “The State” â€" where he drives a forklift and picks lots of stuff up with his hands. Rumor has it, Casey sports a “Tacoma” tattoo.

Why Are You People So Nice?
by Casey Fuller

We see little birds. Our backward
minds wind to them. In still, we
see the slightest noise, the smallest
shake, like flawed arrows circling
toward targets. When people talk
we’re breaking lines, there and
not there, amplified already with a
force that widens the open eye.
When the woman shows us the sun burnt
back of her hands, it’s intrinsic
and known, already the scales are
balancing back with ice, weighing
the water, cooling her hands
that circle around our ears until
they float slantways, featherlike,
into the coldest, bluest psalm.

That’s it for today. I'll bring you more poetry ditties Wednesday.

Poem-A-Tacoma is sponsored by Embellish Multispace Salon in downtown Tacoma.

TAMMY ROBACKER is a poet and writer living, breathing, typing and spitting words in Tacoma. She owns a freelance writing and marketing communications company called Pearle Publications. Her poetry has appeared in Plazm, Women's Work, The Wild Goose Poetry Review, and the Allegheny Review. A recent recipient of the 2009/10 TAIP grant, she will be publishing her first book of poetry, The Vicissitudes, through the generous support of this funding made possible by the City of Tacoma and the Tacoma Arts Commission.