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Morton Marcus: Good evening everybody. Welcome to the KUSP Poetry Show this is your host Mort Marcus and before we get into tonight's very special proceedings, I would like to thank Stapleton's Natural Foods grocery for providing support

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that helps to make the following hour programming possible. Stapleton's Natural Foods grocery specializes in organic and commercial products at 415 River Street in Santa Cruz. In the background we're hearing Toots and the Maytals give us

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some real Funky Kingston, one of my favorite records and this probably in no way introduces the quality of poetry that we'll be listening to tonight. But tonight, we have Pat Vecchione, who has been on this program before. Shall I call you

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Patricia? It's Patricia Vecchione, who has been on this program before. And she, as many of you out there know, is not only a poet, she's an editor, and she also, originally on the Spectre program is now one of the fine master teachers on the

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Poetry in the Schools program and has been doing an interesting project at the Ark School, an alternative education school here in Santa Cruz. And as we pot down Toots and the Maytals, there they go back to the Caribbean, bye fellas. Pat,

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I'd like to, I'm gonna call you Pat. Officially, you may be Patricia but I'm gonna call you Pat. Why don't you tell us a little about the project, and about the Ark School, and what's been going on there with you since October.

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Patrice Vecchione: We've been working on writing poetry since the beginning of October. I've been working with both the junior high and one of the high school programs with Ward Smith, the junior high teacher, and Bruce Darling, the darling

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teacher who works with the high school and is here this evening. We've been getting together at least once a week to work on writing. The last lesson that we've done is some of the work of Yev- and I'm going to mispronounce this name, the

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Russian poet- Then I'm going to say, Pat. The Russian poet, Yevgeny Yevtushenko. And you'll be here or something like that, right?

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Morton Marcus: It's all right, that's all right we accept this of your people. Patrice Vecchione: And we'll be hearing a couple poems tonight that were written in response to a poem he wrote called, "I Am

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Many." We're going to begin this evening with a young poet here who has worked very hard to get here. He's sick, he can barely speak, he's suffering from some ailments, something like strep throat. I shouldn't even be sitting this close to you,

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Peter. He's going to read the three poems that he has all in succession so that he can go home and go back to bed. Morton Marcus: Okay, well, let's, uh, Peter, what is your full name?

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Peter Moreno: Peter Moreno. Morton Marcus: Okay, Pete, you're gonna have to get closer to the microphone. Okay, Peter Moreno, how old are you, Pete? Peter Moreno: Thirteen.

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Morton Marcus: Is this is the first time you've ever written poetry was on this project, or have you been writing it before? Peter Moreno: First time. Morton Marcus: Okay, have you been enjoying it?

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Peter Moreno: Yeah. Morton Marcus: Okay, now just between you and me, there's nobody out here really, what do you think of Patricia as a teacher?

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Peter Moreno: She's all right. Morton Marcus: Okay, what do you think she's done that has made you want to write poetry? Peter Moreno: Well, she forces me to do it.

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Morton Marcus: That's all that old whip and chair. Patrice Vecchione: Don't tell him about the handcuffs. Morton Marcus: Okay, Peter, let's- why don't you read us each poem? Let's say some comments about them.

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Peter Moreno: Shadows that haunt me, please don't hurt me. I know I was rotten. It wasn't my fault he died. Blood follows me, but yet not harmful. It's not against me. It frightens me. Boom, the shot of a shotgun rings inside of me but yet it's

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not my fault he died. Morton Marcus: Now, is that written on a specific event? Peter Moreno: Yes. Morton Marcus: May I ask you what that event is?

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Peter Moreno: It's about my friend. Morton Marcus: And what happened to your friend? Peter Moreno: He died. Morton Marcus: This is a very quick question. I mean, though,

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did you have the gun and the gun was loaded or something like that? Peter Moreno: No, this storekeeper. Morton Marcus: Uh huh.

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Peter Moreno: We were in there, and he shot him. Morton Marcus: No reason? Peter Moreno: Yeah, he had reason but- Morton Marcus: Shall we go into the reason?

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Peter Moreno: Yeah. Morton Marcus: Okay, why don't you tell us about it? Peter Moreno: Oh, we're just walking and were both like drunk and he decided to go and store and rob it, so we both went and

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he just got shot and I just left. Morton Marcus: Was this one of the first poems that you wrote? Peter Moreno: Yeah. Morton Marcus: Well, what I'm going to ask you to do is to

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read the poem again because the listener out there you see, he doesn't know that circumstance. Now that he knows the circumstance, he can understand the poem and the impetus behind it all the better, which sounds to me like a very heavy poem

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because it is something you really had to get out and say to your friend. Peter Moreno: MY PAST Shadows that haunt me, please don't hurt me. I know I was

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rotten. It wasn't my fault he died. Blood follows me, but yet not harmful. It's not against me. It frightens me. Boom, the shot of a shotgun rings inside of me but yet it's not my fault he died.

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Morton Marcus: Very interesting, very interesting poem. What about the next one, Peter? Is there anything about it that we should know before you read it? Is it based on a particular circumstance or something?

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Peter Moreno: Yeah, it is. Morton Marcus: Could you tell us about it? Peter Moreno: Just me and my parents we had like this disagreement and I got put in a group home. That's about it.

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Morton Marcus: Okay. Peter Moreno: FUTURE I'm in a group home. Everybody knows. My parents don't care. I'm thirteen; five more years to go. I sink down farther into the

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future and an unknown world, my heart is in me pumping away, for no one knows, it might come any day. Morton Marcus: What is the "it" in there, what might come any day?

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Peter Moreno: You know, I might leave this place. Morton Marcus: And freedom. Peter Moreno: Yeah. Morton Marcus: Free at last. What about the third one, Pete?

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Peter Moreno: It's based on like, I bought these pair of shoes and I just got hooked on them. It's like they're part of me now. Morton Marcus: Okay you wearing them?

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Peter Moreno: No, not right now. THE SHOES The shoes with the hole in them, the shoes that went through mud, the shoes that went to jail, the shoes I wear, the shoes I love,

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the shoes I trashed, the shoes that take me everywhere, the shoes with long shoe strings, the shoes I run in, the shoes that haunt me, the shoes I paid $80 for, my shoes. Morton Marcus: Great, nice rhythms. And again, Peter

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Moreno. Yeah, that is Peter Moreno who is reading to you tonight on the Poetry Show. And tonight, we're doing a program of young poets from the Art School and you just heard from Peter Moreno who is rather ill and who has consented to come

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down here and that's why he's our first reader and he's reading three quick poems. Thanks, man. Take care. Patrice Vecchione: Next, we will hear two poems from Vicki Pollock.

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Morton Marcus: Vicki, what should we know about you? Vicki Pollock: I'm- I'm 15. Morton Marcus: And is this the first time you've written poetry?

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Vicki Pollock: Not really, I wrote a little before and this is the first time I'll seriously. Morton Marcus: And what is it that Patrice does that really has made you write- or just the whole class situation? And the

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reason I'm asking these questions, by the way, is that I've been involved with poetry in the schools on both coasts for a long while. I haven't done it in several years but the more people can hear about this project, I think, and who might

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not know about it, the better it is. Patrice, by the way, is as I'm not telling you here, but Patrice is, as people may know out there, the director, you may not know, the director of Poetry in the Schools for Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito

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counties. So, besides being a master teacher, she is also the director for this area. So, if there are people listening from high schools, junior high schools out there, Poetry in the School's always looking to expand. Miss Pollock and maybe

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tell us something about the poems. Vicki Pollock: They're just about subjects and first one's about morning. THE MORNING IS COLD AND STILL

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The trees stand silent in silence. As the wind whispers its song, you can hear the sound of crickets. The sun rises and the moon sets, the colors of the earth brighten and the sound of crickets becomes the sound of birds singing a wake up song.

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This is a morning that some people forget, for some morning means your sound sleep is to be broken. You must rush and worry or be late or even some sleep their morning away. So, someday when you don't have to rush or worry, awake early and enjoy,

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instead of regretting the morning. Morton Marcus: Very nice. Vicki Pollock: The second one's about clouds. THE CRYING CLOUDS. A dark cloud runs from over the water, this cloud holds in it

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its emotions until it cannot hold them anymore. It bursts, letting its tears fall to the ground, cleansing the earth and leaving a sweet smell. This is the rain I wait for, the rain I wait to feel on my face, the rain I wait to smell in the air.

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The cloud's sadness is gone and it runs on. Morton Marcus: Very good, very good. Well, you want to say anything about the poems themselves? Vicki Pollock: No.

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Morton Marcus: How many times do you write the poems? Do you write them over or- and polish them? Vicki Pollock: Yeah, I've write them probably about three times. Morton Marcus: And have you written a lot of other poems? I

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take that you have written a lot of other poems since October. Vicki Pollock: A few, not a lot. Morton Marcus: Okay, thank you very much. Patrice Vecchione: Next we'll hear from Cheyenne Young.

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Morton Marcus: Hello, Cheyenne, is this your first writing experience within this class? Cheyenne Young: No, I've written poems before the class. In fact, I've only written one for the class. In fact, this one is

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something I wrote myself before. Morton Marcus: So do you plan to pursue poetry and keep writing it on your own afterwards since you have before? Cheyenne Young: Maybe, depends.

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Morton Marcus: Are you- you're not absolutely hooked on poetry. I mean, you can take it or leave at this point. Cheyenne Young: Well, it's usually something I do when I'm like, depressed or bummed. It helps.

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Morton Marcus: Okay, do you want to say anything about this poem you're gonna read? Cheyenne Young: Well, it's just something to kind of symbolize something about in a friend of mine, good friend.

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Morton Marcus: Okay, great, read. Cheyenne Young: THE RAZOR'S WAY Thinking in the moon's soft light, knowing that things are far from right, without the strength to stand and fight.

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Thinking of the pain we're in, not knowing if the healing will begin or if this is a war we cannot win. Slashing arms with a razor blade, calling for some form of aid, trying to say what should be said, lest we start to wish we're dead. The pain we

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felt in our head, making us wish there was more to be bled. None of us knows how to stop the pain, trapped in our world of dripping red rain, waiting for an answer to lodge in the brain, when it didn't come, we'd start slashing again. One of us would

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have to find a suitable end, it would make the good and the bad seem to blend. Our minds had already started to bend unless we could figure out how to make it go away. Let's go back to the razors and slicing for a way.

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Morton Marcus: Did you show that to the fellow who wrote that about? Cheyenne Young: No, he didn't want to hear about my poetry. Morton Marcus: Okay, that's too bad because I think he would

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have found an interesting subject instance what you're trying to talk about is how you and he can get along much better. Cheyenne Young: Well, he'd understand it.

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Morton Marcus: He would understand it whether it was in the poem or not, you've been talking about that. Okay, great. Thank you very much, Cheyenne. Cheyenne Young: Thank you.

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Patrice Vecchione: If anybody out there would like more information about Poets in the Schools, you can find out more by calling moi at 462-1176. The next poet reading is Ian and I'm sorry, Ian, I'm gonna mispronounce another name,

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Guindon. Ian Guindon: That was pretty good. Morton Marcus: Ian Guindon? Ian Guindon: Yeah.

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Morton Marcus: Okay, all I'm doing is motioning for you to sit closer to the microphone. Ian Guindon: I'm sorry, I didn't- Morton Marcus: That's okay. As long as you sit close then we

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can pick you up on the needles here. We know that you're being heard. Is this the first class in which you've written poetry? Ian Guindon: Yeah, it is but it's not the first time I've written poetry.

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Morton Marcus: Okay. What did you- did you just write poetry on your own before? Ian Guindon: Yeah, is actually pretty simpie as like, dig into my stuff and I found all the stuff I wrote when I was a

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freshman. Morton Marcus: All right now when you say simpie, what do you really mean by simpie? Ian Guindon: I was just kind of sad, it was all depressing, just

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kind of like low down and really cheap. Morton Marcus: So you think that poetry then can be a lot of fun too, and celebratory, you know, celebration? Ian Guindon: Oh, yeah.

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Morton Marcus: Great. Well, I look forward to what you're going to read us. Are there any words you want to say about this poem? Ian Guindon: Yeah, I didn't write it.

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Morton Marcus: Okay, very good thing to say. Ian Guindon: I'm serious, I didn't write this one. Morton Marcus: Okay, you're reading it for a friend who's on?

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Ian Guindon: Yeah, he didn't show up tonight. Morton Marcus: And his name is? Ian Guindon: Eric and I know I'm gonna mispronounce this one but Meleagris(?) right? Okay, cool.

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Morton Marcus: Eric Meleagris, okay. Ian Guindon: Okay. It's called THE RUG MAN. The multicolored ball of carpet samples opens to reveal the rug man. Though he is dirty and homeless, he was once successful

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until the world became too much and broke him, forcing him to become the humble, defeated person he was. The ball closes and he goes back to his careless world. Morton Marcus: Interesting. And now we're gonna hear several of

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your poems? Ian Guindon: Well, just one. Morton Marcus: Okay, one of your poems. Ian Guindon: Yeah, we're gonna get one more later.

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Patrice Vecchione: We're gonna do a couple rounds here. Morton Marcus: Oh, great. Okay, Patrice Vecchione: We'll bring a couple more of Ian's after. Morton Marcus: Since we took a break, when each poet leaves,

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why don't you say thank you and then give the poet's name, so the people out there if they missed it, can hear it again and then can start looking for their books and everything. Ian Guindon: Okay, this one's called IN ANOTHER NAME.

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I'm the maker of rules, master of lies, looking for the end reality. Come on, baby. Won't you please take my hand? Don't you know I'm from a foreign land, face to face, fight fire with firefight? Dreams are dreams, only seen through

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candlelight. Life is rough, seem it for softer ones, I smell is fire, only passion die strong. Interesting. Do you think about doing lyrics for songs?Yeah, at one time.

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Morton Marcus: You have strong lyric qualities. Ian Guindon: Yeah, well, actually that one was written as a song. Morton Marcus: Great. Well, we'll be hearing you in around

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15 minutes or half an hour again, great. Patrice Vecchione: That was Ian Guindon. Morton Marcus: And before we announce the next person, for the people out there we are presenting poets from the art

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school who are in a Poetry in the Schools class, which has been given since last October by Patricia Vecchione, better known as Pat to her buddies. And- Patrice Vecchione: You'll pay for this one, Morton.

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Morton Marcus: Sure I will and we are going to continue to hear them and some of the poets you've heard will come back and can read other poems. And now, Pat, who is our next reader? Patrice Vecchione: Next, we're going to hear from Heidi

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Erickson. And Heidi is one of the students who writes reams, I think this person could probably do a book. And speaking of book, actually we are going to be publishing, in-house publishing, a collection of the students' work which will be out in May

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sometime. Morton Marcus: Okay, will there be extra copies of that which you may want to sell to support the program of the school or something?

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Patrice Vecchione: There will be extra copies available, I don't know if we'll sell them or if they'll be available for- Morton Marcus: Sale? Patrice Vecchione: No, the queue is from the back that sell them

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and take everybody out to dinner or something. Morton Marcus: Okay, if that is so, let me ask if anyone out there is interested, please call after the show or send a note to KUSP and I will forward that so that we can have your name and

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telephone number on the list of people who should be contacted when the book comes out. Okay, Heidi, did you write poetry before this class? Heidi Erickson: Yeah, I did all my free time.

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Morton Marcus: Now, you write reams. Why do you write so much poetry? What do you find in poetry? Heidi Erickson: I don't know. It's just something to do when I'm bored or just something to do when my mind's boggled and

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just a way of expressing myself. Morton Marcus: Okay, good answer. Heidi Erickson: All right, this is called SO LITTLE TIME. If I squeezed my life into a cap, only half full, it would

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overflow. So much done in so little time, like an ice cube melting hot water. Will I make it? The fire crackles, dwindles, then dies. My mind races, try to squeeze blood out of a rock and you'll see how I feel. The fire crackles, dwindles, then dies.

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Morton Marcus: Very interesting, very centered on concrete objects. That's really nice, really nice. Heidi Erickson: Okay, the next one's called MIRROR. There's a mirror in the bathroom but the reflection's not mine.

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Somewhere inside this unfamiliar face is a heart, not yet known. Help is what I need. Insanity crawls upon me faster than my voice reaches your ears. A butterfly spreads its wings for flight, like my heart opening for you. Just when I think I've

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tamed the beauty at rest, there's a movement and it flies away. Morton Marcus: Heidi's gonna read one more. Heidi Erickson: Okay, the next one's called MAYBE SO.

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A man is walking, I cannot see his face. He cannot hear me, I am walking silently. Maybe this man will stop, turn around and blow my head off but he doesn't, he keeps walking. He can't hear me but maybe he can, maybe he can and he thinks I'm gonna pull

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out a gun and blow his head off. Maybe I will but I don't have a gun but maybe I do. My mind goes blank. There's a pain filling my body, a ringing in my ears. I look up and I see the man is falling, falling. No, I am falling. I see crimson

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everywhere. I'm dying. I'm dead. Why me? I'm not really dead. I'm alive, but I have nowhere to go. There's a man walking. I cannot see his face. He cannot hear me. I'm walking silently. Morton Marcus: That's fascinating. Before you leave,

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was that written out of a specific incident? Heidi Erickson: No, actually, I was just one day and I was just kind of scribbling on a piece of paper and I couldn't get anything out and it just came like, I don't know.

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Morton Marcus: One of those poems you didn't rewrite, I take it? Heidi Erickson: No. Morton Marcus: That's amazing because it has a real difficult

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or complex sense of I and thou, me and the other, and how you're interchangeable. It really is very powerful stuff, very nice. Heidi Erickson: Thanks. Patrice Vecchione: That was Heidi Erickson. Many of the

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schools that I teach and I feel that the lessons I bring in are what helped to unleash or tap into what's there. These students, I don't think it matters what lessons I bring in. It often takes this group of people a long time to get

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actually settled down and into the poem but once they're there, the room is quiet, and they write deeply. Morton Marcus: Okay, Pat, let me ask the question, how do you get them settled? I mean, they know they have to get themselves

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settled. But how does it come about? Patrice Vecchione: Through blood, sweat, pain? Bruce, the teacher in the background is laughing because he knows how I stand there in my high heels, uselessly threatening them with

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worthless thoughts, worthless words, nothing seems- it's credit. You know, if you don't shut up, you're not going to get credit today. No, it's not quite that bad, but some days it's pretty close. And I think that it's- however, I think that- and

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maybe I'm hoping too much for poetry here, but I think that a lot of what quiets the students down and gets them to work is the genuine interest in writing and the rewards of writing, how it does help.

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Morton Marcus: What I would like to do is, we'll take a break in around five minutes. Bruce, would you mind coming up and talking about the class and the way you feel about it? Okay, great. So, we'll do that in the next half hour. No, no, no,

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that's afterwards. We'll have both Pat and Bruce talk about what they feel the program is doing and how it's working. And this is, this is Patrick Trescott. Patrice Vecchione: Trescott.

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Morton Marcus: Okay, Pat, and how long have you been writing? Patrick Trescott: Since not much before the class, but I have written before the class, but mostly after the class. Morton Marcus: Have you written a lot after the class started?

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Patrick Trescott: No, I got there, near the end of it, so I wrote like, three poems, four poems and two got lost. Patrice Vecchione: Not permanently gone, we just don't know where they are right now.

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Morton Marcus: Okay, now the class is over then, this particular class? Patrice Vecchione: There are three more sessions: two more writing sessions and then the final session when the book

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comes out, and we'll be doing poetry reading at the end and also presentation for the Board of Education. None of the students know we're doing that yet. Morton Marcus: Well, is this poetry reading going to be open

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to the public or will it just be at school? Patrice Vecchione: At this point, it looks like it will be at school, but it will probably be open to the public at school. I've certainly sent press releases.

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Morton Marcus: Yeah, I will be happy to announce it. Okay, my friend. Let's hear your poems, does this need any introductory remarks from you? So what's great about reading as, I know a lot of you people know, is that it's the chance to say all those

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things about the poem that never got into the poem, to say, so if you got some extra comments, make them. Patrick Trescott: Okay, this was just an assigned subject and my brain just went off and I wrote it. It was about possibilities

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of what can happen in life or something like that. Morton Marcus: Okay, good. Patrick Trescott: So, this is called POSSIBILITIESS. Behind the train, running after it, missed opportunities,

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failure, frustration, eating away at one's inner self, turning into spite. This is but one of the infinite possibilities of life. Not all possibilities are bad. How much better to show infinite possibilities in the embodiment

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of such. the baby. Little baby Azura walks through the house. She bangs on the piano and hits the drums, will she be a musician. When the music plays on the stereo, she stands up and wags her butt in the air. Ah, a dancer. She traverses the giant

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house with increasing confidence, talking with an ever increasing fervor and meaning. Little Baby Azura can be whatever she wants, life can mold her in a million different ways, she's millions of different people. In another

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reality, she will be a completely different person, different thoughts, different actions. A little baby has the choice to be any one of a million people. Morton Marcus: These people are operating in some high level

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thoughts here, yeah. Come on, next one. Patrick Trescott: The next one I didn't write. I'm reading it for my friend. Morton Marcus: All right, and his name is?

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Patrick Trescott: Jules Hubbs. Morton Marcus: Okay. Patrick Trescott: And this is UNTITLED. They rise up from the depths of our subconscious. They are the

00:25:11.720 - 00:25:27.080

angels in our heart. We look at what they say, what they see, we touch what they feel, we breathe our life to come, they are what we will be, they are the angels in our heart. So, until the day the two are one, are black are white, are hate are love, are

00:25:27.080 - 00:25:39.920

pain are ecstasy, we shall never know peace, like that of the angels in our heart. Morton Marcus: Hmm, very interesting. Wow. Well, a lot of these poems are interesting, because they seem to talk about

00:25:40.370 - 00:25:51.080

the self that has done an action and the other self that is inside, you know, and either regrets that action or wants that other self to come out. Very interesting and three or four people have already expressed that.

00:25:51.470 - 00:26:00.590

Patrice Vecchione: I think that's very much the condition of high school also, you're beginning to really solidify that sense of self and it- Morton Marcus: I can't remember back that far.

00:26:00.650 - 00:26:14.540

Patrice Vecchione: Oh, baloney, I can. That was Patrick Trescott. And next we're going to hear from Zack and Zack, your last name again? Zack Laval: Laval.

00:26:15.830 - 00:26:29.210

Patrice Vecchione: Laval. Morton Marcus: And how long have you been writing Zack? Zack Laval: Since about fourth grade. Morton Marcus: Ah, so we've got an old time poet here. How much

00:26:29.210 - 00:26:40.790

do you usually write? In other words, have you written a lot in this class? Or are these let's say the efforts that you wrote in the last three months? Zack Laval: Well, I wrote some other ones, but they weren't- I

00:26:40.790 - 00:26:52.790

don't think they're too good so I didn't read them on the radio. Morton Marcus: Okay, well, Zack, let's see what you have. Zack Laval: This one's called DEPRESSION. Depression spits at you like a worm. When you're happy, nobody

00:26:52.790 - 00:27:03.890

cares. When you are depressed, no one wants to get involved. They'll watch you keel over and die, then they'll kick you while you're down. Morton Marcus: Okay.

00:27:07.430 - 00:27:19.310

Zack Laval: The next one's called THE ROOM. I mean, it's about my classroom. The room is brightly filled with might from the loving hearts of everyone, even the bottle on Amber's desk glows.

00:27:21.200 - 00:27:32.000

There's more of this poem but it got different and difficult so I didn't read it. Morton Marcus: Okay, well then why don't you read what you've already written again? Okay, just that little part.

00:27:32.270 - 00:27:46.640

Zack Laval: Okay. The room is brightly filled with might from a loving hearts of everyone, even the bottle on Amber's desk glows. Morton Marcus: Even the bottle on Amber's desk glows?

00:27:46.700 - 00:27:55.760

Zack Laval: She's a classmate of mine. Morton Marcus: Well, you know, sometimes you just keep writing all the stuff and just keep cutting it back until you've got the three lines where it should have been in the beginning. That

00:27:55.760 - 00:28:08.150

has happened a lot of times to a lot of people. One of them is a gentleman by the name of Ezra Pound, you ever heard about him? He wrote a poem about the subway in Paris and it went on for aroundd 300 lines. And he started cutting lines one after

00:28:08.150 - 00:28:16.940

another, after another, after another, till he got back to the first two lines of the poem and realized that had been the poem all long, so what you're going through, a lot of other people have gone through.

00:28:17.960 - 00:28:34.460

Zack Laval: Yeah this one's about a dream and it's about a lake. This lake I see is so beautiful. I run towards it. My hooves touch the cold and refreshing water. I'm so excited, then I

00:28:34.460 - 00:28:45.650

see her in my eyes. I always screw up on this line, but I see her my- Morton Marcus: Start again. Zack Laval: Okay. This lake I see is so beautiful. I run

00:28:45.650 - 00:29:01.520

towards it. My hooves touch the cold and refreshing water. I'm so excited then I see her. My eyes are filled with joy. I walk towards her, she's swimming gracefully along the water. I touch her and she fades away.

00:29:03.080 - 00:29:12.080

Morton Marcus: Now, in that you're imagining yourself, obviously not a human being right? Zack Laval: I'm imagining myself as a centaur. Morton Marcus: Yeah, that's what I thought. Very good, very good,

00:29:12.290 - 00:29:26.930

because it could have been a horse, but I had that feeling, amazing by the details you gave that you are a centaur in the poem. Great. Thank you very much, Zack. Zack Laval: That was Zack Laval. Next, we're going to hear from

00:29:26.930 - 00:29:43.580

Mike Scott. Morton Marcus: Okay, and Mike, did you have something for me? Okay, okay and here it goes. Before you start reading, let me just put this in here. And we're going to have some accompaniment

00:29:43.970 - 00:29:58.430

at this time. I've got to get this set up for a second here. Okay and tell me when you want to read Mike and you want to say anything about this or what you're going to do? Mike Scott: Well, my poem is a poem, it was in response to a

00:29:58.430 - 00:30:10.370

class poem, or not a class poem, but it was someone else's written poem. It's called something like Spider Man or something about- and we had to do something relating to that, so.

00:30:11.060 - 00:30:22.490

Morton Marcus: Okay, now now before we go on, I gotta tell you something. Do you have to hear this while you're reading it? No, because you're not going to be able to hear it since I've got you potted up here. It's just something technical. You

00:30:22.490 - 00:30:45.380

can't hear, you can't hear it going on. All right, okay, so when I give you the signal, then we're moving. Mike Scott: I call this one, IF I COULD BURN MY SEAT OR CHANGE YOU.

00:30:46.940 - 00:31:06.890

My suit, maybe [cuts off]. Morton Marcus: Okay. Now, I don't know how you want to do this but since we have 15 minutes, how many people are going to read? So that you know we may just- 1, 2, 3, all right,

00:31:06.920 - 00:31:16.250

four. All right, so maybe what we should do well, we still have a lot, four people we still have a lot of time. Patrice Vecchione: How about if we do two per person? Morton Marcus: Sounds fine to me- I just want to make sure

00:31:16.250 - 00:31:24.830

that everyone gets in. Patrice Vecchione: Some only have one more. Morton Marcus: So let's give their names again and you know, so that people out there will know them.

00:31:24.920 - 00:31:34.280

Patrice Vecchione: Heidi Erickson will be reading another poem, one more. Heidi Erickson: It's called MY DREAMS ARE REAL. I believe my dreams are real, that is just the way I feel.

00:31:34.670 - 00:31:47.840

Don't believe me? That's okay. I hate to see the break of day. When I'm there, nothing's clear. But then again, there are no tears. My life is born in the middle of the night, no other time do I feel so right. When the morning light comes to me,

00:31:47.900 - 00:31:55.880

it's never like it's supposed to be. Now I know my dreams are real. Patrice Vecchione: Thank you, Heidi. Morton Marcus: Thank you very much. That was Heidi Erickson

00:31:56.390 - 00:32:06.020

and she is a luminous writer. And we're back now with Ian, right? Ian Winden: Yeah. Bruce Darling: Can I break in?

00:32:06.140 - 00:32:13.880

Morton Marcus: You certainly can. You can see, you can make comments on any of these poets, Bruce Darling: There was something that we needed to say because you gave an age thing, which when this time we got to

00:32:13.880 - 00:32:19.310

be careful, like you said 13 to 14- Morton Marcus: Which is wrong? Bruce Darling: Which is wrong, we go up to 17. Okay, we need to say that.

00:32:19.730 - 00:32:30.650

Morton Marcus: Yeah, anything. In fact, anytime you want to break in, and, you know, make a comment on the poems or the poet, please do. Patrice Vecchione: This, again, is Ian Guindon, and the first

00:32:30.680 - 00:32:39.380

poem he'll be reading right now, I don't know if it's the only one or not. No, it's not the only one. The first one he's going to read was written by somebody who would prefer to remain anonymous.

00:32:40.170 - 00:32:48.360

Morton Marcus: Do you know that anonymous has written more poems in the history of poetry really, everywhere? Ian Guindon: This is another one by anonymous then. It's called LIFE.

00:32:50.670 - 00:33:09.540

What is the beginning of life? A thousand atoms congregating? The melding of a new being, a starting of what is? That is still unknown. The hopes and dreams a reality, the fears and worries, too much to explain. Knowing but not knowing,

00:33:09.810 - 00:33:25.350

sobriety, the melding of a new life, the changing of your own, how to react, how to cope, the stress and happiness. Insecurities rise, how do you feel? How do you change for the better? Change your life completely.

00:33:27.780 - 00:33:46.080

Patrice Vecchione: This person is literally doing that and this is one of the finest poems she/he, he/she, it. I don't want to give anything away- those finest pieces that the person has written so far and real excited to have it read on the

00:33:46.080 - 00:34:02.140

air. You have another one and this one is your own? Ian Guindon: Yeah. It's called MANY ENTRANCES. Life is just an imposing dream, a reality I choose to enjoy, running, staying, loving, hating, a thread lost in

00:34:02.140 - 00:34:19.900

thought. And now in here a wolf thought, the future thought of man, the cry of a babe brought into this world or smile of the old dying man. I long to hold a rose and look into the dew, teardrop of forgotten joy. The beauty of a diamond is ice cold.

00:34:20.530 - 00:34:37.270

Tongues are sharper than swords. The moment of pleasure is soon forgotten, pain from each alone, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A sword may be a tool, the pleasure completes the other two. Never ending, the cycle goes on, beginning and ending at

00:34:37.270 - 00:34:46.030

the heart. Patrice Vecchione: Okay, that was Ian Guindon. And next we're going to hear from Patrick. Morton Marcus: Okay, that was Ian Guindon. We weren't picking

00:34:46.030 - 00:35:01.730

you up there, Pat. Patrice Vecchione: And this is Patrick Trescott. Patrick Trescott: Okay, this one is based on some something somebody told me. Okay, this is UNTITLED.

00:35:01.000 - 00:35:16.480

I just witnessed someone try and jump off a bridge. He was under the influence of that wonder drug, LSD. He didn't know why, it was just an impulse; tha really makes you wonder. Ever single day, I see peopl downtown staring at their feet

00:35:16.840 - 00:35:29.530

stopping every five feet or s and looking over their shoulde with a panic look on their face People running down the stree screaming obscenities, thes people are different people tha they once were, thei personalities radically changed

00:35:29.920 - 00:35:42.760

Maybe some of them took a fe sheets too many, maybe the accidentally ingested 20 or 3 doses of PCP, maybe they wer slipped a few thousand liqui doses in a beer. However yo argue your points an rationalize it away, it's thing

00:35:42.760 - 00:35:57.530

like these that really make m wonder Morton Marcus: Hmm, me too. Let me tell you, it can make us all wonder. Okay, another one. You have another one? Patrick Trescott: Yeah, this is it.

00:35:57.590 - 00:36:09.680

Patrice Vecchione: Well, yeah, we're as we're looking at the clock here. Maybe if we still have time you can come back with the one by Chris. We'll hear- Cheyenne will be reading one of- another student's poem.

00:36:09.760 - 00:36:18.910

Morton Marcus: And Cheyenne's last name again is? Patrice Vecchione: Cheyenne Young. Morton Marcus: And can we get real close to the microphone? Cheyenne Young: Okay, this one's UNTITLED.

00:36:19.690 - 00:36:31.800

Patrice Vecchione: By Jared Paige. Cheyenne Young: I am an illusion, you don't see me, I do not exist in your eyes. Patrice Vecchione: And Mike, Mike Scott.

00:36:38.590 - 00:36:50.040

Mike Scott: I call this when NATURE'S COARSE, not course, like the course of time, but coarse the texture. Morton Marcus: Okay, great. Mike Scott: Even as weathering may break a stone, nature has

00:36:50.040 - 00:37:05.580

its way of mending the cracks. Yet the cracks may grow larger and larger until the stone becomes a fine powder. Under the right conditions a new stone can yet be made, sediment joins together, leaving even more fragile stone.

00:37:06.990 - 00:37:24.960

Morton Marcus: Very nice. Mike Scott: And I call this one EVERYTHING AND NOTHING. This is a poem of love and hate, a poem of war and peace. This is a poem of life and death, a poem of slavery and freedom. This is

00:37:24.960 - 00:37:43.290

a poem of hunger and overeating, a poem of education and illiteracy. This is a poem of apartheid and togetherness, a poem of girls and boys. This is a poem of men and women, a poem of blacks and whites. This is a poem of nation and state, a poem

00:37:43.290 - 00:37:55.860

of democracies and communists. This is a poem of nature and artificialness, a poem of opinions and options. This is a poem that may never end. This is a form of everything and nothing.

00:38:02.190 - 00:38:12.330

Patrice Vecchione: And for any of you who are interested in knowing more about Poets in the Schools, the number to call is 462-1176. And Mort, I think that's about- Morton Marcus: That's it.

00:38:12.390 - 00:38:22.670

Patrice Vecchione: I think that's it. We've got maybe one. How are doing on time? Morton Marcus: Terrific. We still got about seven minutes. Patrice Vecchione: Oh, great. Okay. We have one by Chris. Why

00:38:22.670 - 00:38:34.160

don't Patrick read Chris's poem? Morton Marcus: Alright, and this is Patrick Trescott and he's gonna read a poem by Chris- what's Chris's last name? Patrice Vecchione: I don't- what is Chris's last name?

00:38:36.400 - 00:38:51.490

Gallish, Chris Gallish. Patrick Trescott: Okay, I am. I am a cockroach, a creature that lives forever. I am a kitten, playful and not a care in the world. I am a pitbull, a creature that is vicious. I am a

00:38:51.490 - 00:39:06.460

fly trying to stay alive. I am an elephant with the memory that doesn't forget. I am a wave pending on the shore never stopping. I am the Earth, mad at its inhabitants for polluting it. I am all these things rolled up into me.

00:39:08.030 - 00:39:25.950

Morton Marcus: Right, thank you, Pat. Patrice Vecchione: I believe Heidi has one more. Heidi Erickson: This is called GOODBYE YESTERDAY'S LOVE. Once I loved him, but now we're friends. He loved her more so it

00:39:25.950 - 00:39:39.690

came to an end. My feelings for him I'd never show. I couldn't say I love you, I just want you to know. I would hide my feelings and alone I cried. I wanted him to know how much I tried. I gave him my body and my heart I would lend, at least I

00:39:39.690 - 00:39:58.760

know now we'll always be friends. Patrice Vecchione: And Mike Scott, one more. Mike Scott: This one's titled ELEMENTS. The mist burns from the low ground. The smell of washed

00:39:58.760 - 00:40:17.060

pavement fills your nose. Low clouds in the air begin to clear. The gentle breeze breeds on the earth, the dew on the leaves drips, the gentle sun appears it's beautiful head over a cloud, the light reflects off the water, waves crash what

00:40:17.060 - 00:40:31.430

seems solid rock, the elements begin to take their toll. Morton Marcus: Great, that's a very good poem to end on too, as the elements once more take their toll on the planet and humankind. We have been talking tonight to young poets from the

00:40:31.430 - 00:40:47.210

Art School who are at least at times 17 years old, and who are in the class of Bruce Darling who was talking to us before and whom Pat, Patricia Vecchione, has been teaching as Poetry in the Schools project and Pat, some last words.

00:40:47.930 - 00:40:56.810

Patrice Vecchione: Just to say that there are also have been students here from the junior high program and the teacher there is Ward Smith. Morton Marcus: Okay, so it was from 13 to 17?

00:40:56.810 - 00:41:06.080

Patrice Vecchione: 17 or 18, yeah, predominantly, high school students are here tonight but there have been a couple junior high kids. Morton Marcus: Great. What are a few future assignments for you

00:41:06.080 - 00:41:18.050

in the area, Patricia? Patrice Vecchione: I'm doing a project with the Gifted and Talented Program. They have an extended day program going on right now with the Packard Foundation Grant. And I'm

00:41:18.050 - 00:41:29.930

working with fourth through sixth graders and then first through third graders in the later part of the spring, doing a lot of work with the Gifted and Talented Program also at Santa Cruz High. And then I spend part of the week traveling

00:41:29.930 - 00:41:39.290

down to Salinas where I teach at an elementary school and a couple days a week to Hollister where I teach in a couple of elementary schools there. Morton Marcus: One thing I always objected to in the

00:41:39.290 - 00:41:49.520

program, and made it very vocal, was that at the time I was doing it, it was only going to gifted classes, the government money, the matching money was only going to gifted classes and I thought that was really wrong.

00:41:50.920 - 00:42:03.220

Patrice Vecchione: That's certainly a crime and that's not what's happening now with Poets in Schools. It's reaching the whole spectrum. I do a bit of work with Santa Cruz High with what's called the Chapter One Program. And that's a- for kids

00:42:03.220 - 00:42:15.610

who are working on their basic skills, their skills may not be quite up to level. And a very exciting program out of Monterey County that I'm involved with is called the Yo Puedo Program. And that's a program for migrant students, students whose

00:42:15.610 - 00:42:28.480

families move for work. And these kids are housed at the university during a month of the summer, where they receive an intensive month of instruction on various subjects including creative writing, poetry.

00:42:28.510 - 00:42:36.420

Morton Marcus: Is this still matching funds with the government, or-? Patrice Vecchione: That particular program there, Yo Puedo is a separate program, it's not specifically affiliated

00:42:36.420 - 00:42:45.180

with Poets in Schools, that's funded through the Migrant Education Program, federal and state monies. Morton Marcus: Well, it's great to see you again here, it's always fun.

00:42:45.180 - 00:42:54.840

Patrice Vecchione: Thanks Morton. Morton Marcus: But we see you a lot, which is always great. And I'm sure we'll be seeing you soon as a poet in your own right, but keep doing the good work.

00:42:54.880 - 00:43:06.070

Patrice Vecchione: Thanks. Morton Marcus: And I would like to remind you people out there that Plaza Books has provided a grant that helped make this last half hour programming possible. Plaza Books is located on the

00:43:06.070 - 00:43:22.960

Pacific Garden Mall in Santa Cruz, and we do certainly appreciate their support. Joe will be with you next week. I do again want to remind you about April 5th, which is our show for that Tuesday night, April 5th and that is the only time we

00:43:22.960 - 00:43:38.590

will be able to ask you to pledge your support to the Poetry Show. So, please put it down on your calendar no matter where you are that hour, that night, call in and once more pledge your support for the Poetry Show here on KUSP. It is

00:43:38.590 - 00:43:55.060

one of the few poetry shows on in the country. And you've been very, very generous and we've appreciated it in the past, but we have to renew this support twice a year as you know so the people who are the powers here at KUSP know that you want

00:43:55.090 - 00:44:08.920

poetry. Again, thanks to all the poets from the Ark School. They were wonderful. You're really doing great work. You don't realize it yourself, you're just having fun or you're not having fun but to these old adult ears, you're saying important stuff

00:44:08.920 - 00:44:22.000

that I hope you keep saying for the rest of your lives. It certainly makes an old warhorse like me feel that something's coming after that's worthwhile. So, thanks again, thanks to you for listening out there. I hope you feel the same way I do.

00:44:22.210 - 00:44:28.150

We're going to leave with Toots and the Maytals and we'll see you in two weeks.