Esoteric
2013
She stands with bare feet On a marble bathroom floor The temperature outside has not yet Reached up to the predicted low for today These days she keeps mostly to herself No one else can bear it...
Poetry in the Ramsey County Detention Center
2013
We come from separate compartments, they from carrels, I, from my usual routine, form a circle, except for the young man next to me who turns away.
This Week in Saint Paul: Monday, November 25–Sunday, December 1, 2013
2013
Literature, music, theater, arts, family and special events taking place around the city this week. Highlighting readings by Kristal Leebrick and Heid Erdrich; music by The Other Country Ensemble, the Saint Paul Public Libraries "Musical Notes from Europe", and Kevin Kling; Minnesota Hmong New Year; Highland Park Library's Siesta Fiesta; T. Mychael Rambo at Park Square Theatre; "Saturday Live!" at the Central Library; Addendum's "Indies First program" and The Stuffed Animal HOLIDAY Show!
Saint Paul’s Big River Journey
2013
Each fall and spring since 1996 we’ve loaded students aboard one of the Padelford Packet boats at Harriet Island. Their mission is to learn about how they are connected to this amazing body of water. The joint project between the Padelford Company, the DNR, and the Science Museum of Minnesota is called the Big River Journey. Six times a day we squeeze fifteen to twenty fifth and sixth graders into the wheelhouse to talk about the school subjects that help a person become a riverboat pilot. Anyone who thinks smaller classroom size has no impact on the quality of education can come spend a day of Big River Journey with me.
The Little Guy
2013
Dale Massie pulls for the little guy. “I’m pulling for the little guy, like you and me. God gives us free will. We have no excuse. You know what I’m saying?” While he smoked his break away, we engaged and enjoyed a free-ranging dialogue that touched on aliens, human violence, the many names for God...
Union Depot highlights Lowertown artists from the 2014 Saint Paul Almanac
2013
The Union Depot, the restored transportation hub and key Lowertown landmark, is featuring the 2014 Saint Paul Almanac in a display inside its entrance hall. The latest edition of the Almanac features artwork by many Lowertown artists including Ken and Roberta Avidor, Ta-coumba Aiken, Michael McColl, Chad Hambright, Sarah Marie Wash, Josh and Amy Hosterman, Patrick McCutchen, Tom Dunn, Serena Mira Asta, Frank Brown, Rachel Whacker, Alex Kuno, Shelley Rolhf, Kristi Abbott. Tom Reynen, Tom McGregor, Lisa Mathieson, Mike Hazard, and Nigel Parry.
This Week in Saint Paul: Monday, November 18–Sunday 24, 2013
2013
Literature, music, theater, arts, and family events taking place around the city this week. Highlighting readings by Carol Connolly, Andrea Jenkins, Robert Karimi, Nimo H. Farah, JP Arcani, Tracine Asberry, and Joe the Great One; music by The Cory Wong Quartet and Dean McGraw; family events at the Red Balloon bookstore; a veterans theater event; and Public Art Saint Paul's annual gala.
Soul Sounds: an open mic for nurturing arts, building community
2013
I recently had the opportunity to attend Soul Sounds Open Mic where the featured artist was Danez Smith, who is a spoken word artist, slam poet, and author. It was an intimate crowd of about 40 people, with some attendees even dressed in Halloween costumes. Soul Sounds Open Mic takes place at Golden Thyme Cafe in St. Paul every week, and is community collaboration between the Saint Paul Almanac and Golden Thyme Coffee Café. The goal of Soul Sounds is to create a safe, multigenerational, and diverse space for people to create and share work while engaging in active dialogue that promotes connection and community.
Purgatory
By Sharon Chmielarz ● 2013
It is love and sensing the departed is present somewhere between being able to be reached or not. Neither alive nor dead. It is searching, hopefully, for him...
Name Poem
2013
Riva, sounds simple But is made up of tangled detail From the blood in Israel To my flesh in America...
Share the love on Give to the Max Day!
2013
Please consider making a donation to the Saint Paul Almanac on Give to the Max Day, November 14. It’s a great way to celebrate the stories that express the heart and soul of our capital city.
Kellogg and John Ireland
2013
My girlfriend lives in an apartment across the street from the Saint Paul Cathedral. She has a very Catholic upbringing that only shows when we get to fooling around on her bed with its view of the illuminated massive doors and dome of the church across the street. Then guilt kicks in and I wish there was a curtain to draw. More than once desire has been quashed and old morality triumphs over free love as I am sent packing. After my latest expulsion, I’m driving my economical four-cylinder Chevy II in a sour mood as I pass through the intersection of John Ireland Boulevard on Kellogg when a fast Pontiac Grand Prix roars through the red light and hits me.