The bards of the new age gather once again at Page One Restaurant, just like we do every 2nd and 4th Wednesday, for The Bards Initiative's Bards Reading From Page One! This time around, our feature is former Suffolk County Poet Laureate George Wallace, the first Suffolk County Poet Laureate. His poetry brings you to a past you may have never known, but which is still timeless.
As always, our reading series is free, but donations are greatly appreciated, and we still have our $5 bar menu, courtesy of head chef Jeanine DiMenna. An open mic follows the reading. Please, come, and hear the poetry of Long Island's history, its people, its pride, as told by the man who tells it better than almost any other.
NOTE: We may record one or more of your poems for our Youtube channel (if you consent). This is to promote the diversity and talent of Long Island's poetry community, and we greatly appreciate all participants.
Additional note: The following message is from our feature, George Wallace:
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"The poetry of Long Island's history, its people, its pride? I love this place, as a native of it, but I will do nothing of the kind.
What I will do is what Allen Ginsberg suggested, 'split the heavens of Long Island...with the same dreadful typewriter' all contemporary American poets pound their sad fists upon -- including the good, the great, and the terrible.
What I will do is what Walt Whitman suggested, salute the people of the world when he said
'Health to you! good will to you all, from me and America sent!
Each of us inevitable,
Each of us limitless--each of us with his or her right upon the earth,
Each of us allow'd the eternal purports of the earth,
Each of us here as divinely as any is here.
Towards you all, in America's name,
I raise high the perpendicular hand.'
Fair warning to non-poets -- a poetry reading is a gathering of like-minded misfits, by turns engaging and uncomfortable, revelatory and dull. While generally harmless, it may be too much to handle for the uninitiated or vaporous. Any thought of attendance by such as those, the innocent bystander, should be undertaken at one's own risk.
George Wallace "
