The annual poetry performances of J.J. Clarke drew capacity audiences to the Woodstock Poetry Society in the 1990s and beyond. In recent years ill health has limited his readings. He has read in public only three times in the past decade. On Thursday, June 23 at 7 p.m., J.J. Clarke will feature at New World Home Cooking. As a teacher at Ulster County Community College, Clarke inspired new poetry readers for a quarter-century. He has published at least six chapbooks of his work. His powerful readings were once a major feature of the Ulster County poetry scene.
Readings take place at New World Home Cooking, 1411 Route 212, between Woodstock and Saugerties. This reading will begin promptly at 7, so please arrive by 6:30 for dinner. Readings include an open mic (5 minute limit) which can be poetry or prose. No admission charge; we take a voluntary collection for the writers. Attendees who wish to have dinner before the reading can call 246-0900 for reservations.
(advice to my son: the army)
at first it will not seem like a trap;
they will slap your back to reassure
you; there will be wine and great breasted
dancing girls, gold for the rest
of your life. and then one night
they will come and awaken you with their soft
voices and their goddamned
stone eyes, and when they come and awaken you
and give you a gun
and tell you who to shoot
then you will know it was a trap
