Chicago Poets, Locals Read Work at Barista's

If you stopped at on Wednesday night, you might have heard people speaking of dunk contests with Shaquille O'Neal, their favorite t-shirts, monsters and librarianship.

With writers from Chicago and local poets reading, "Bad Zine, Everyone's Fault: A Zine Reading Tour" was the first poetry reading hosted at Barista's in the four years since the cafe was opened.

Each poet brought a different style to the event—Jen Twigg, one of the Chicago-based poets, read about a girl's camp while Rich Russell, who teaches at both the and , read about the alleyways of Somers Point.

The Chicago area poets, who are touring the country and giving readings before heading to the Washington D.C. Zinefest, followed Russell, who hosted the event.

Leslie Perrine, the first poet who stepped up to the microphone, read about a hampster in a cage. The animal discovers the instruction manual to the cage in the cage, complete with pictures and words explaining how to get out of the cage, allowing it to escape.

Heather C. (who preferred not using her last name) read about her very favorite t-shirt (and everything it reminded her of).

"It is a tangible reminder of pieces of my past...this shirt serves as a marker in my memory," she said.

C. also read about working as a reference librarian, her job back home outside of Chicago, and the types of questions she hears from library patrons.

Barista's owner Mark Becker said that he always envisioned his shop as a place for people to gather for conversation and arts, and the cafe hosts a monthly music night during the school year.

"Coffee is a community," said Becker, who runs the shop with his wife Deborah. "Coffee is all about conversation and getting together."

Xavier M., a poet from Bloomington, Indiana, read some of the darkest pieces of the evening.

"My mom hunts for bigfoot, so I wrote this zine about monsters that she believes in," he said. "And that I kind of believe in."

Jessica Tewell, 21, of Mays Landing, was among those who attended the reading and listened to the poets. She was there to support her friend Daniel Sanchez, the only slam poet, who was the most animated performer of the night.

"Dan's work is kind of like if you take a dictionary and shake all the cool words out, put it in a blender, blend it, pour the filling into a pre-made pie crust, and bake it...with whipped cream, you have to have whipped cream," Tewell said.

Sanchez lived in Galloway for three years while he attended Atlantic Cape before transferring to Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

After the reading, the Chicago-based writers left to travel to a Baltimore reading on Thursday. Another reading featuring Russell and other local poets will be held at 6:30 p.m. in Somers Point on Friday, Aug. 3, at the Great Bay Gallery.

"We've been exploring the alleyways of Somers Point and writing poems about them," Russell said.

He read one of the alleyways poems, "of alleyways," at the zine event at Barista's:

"I have lived

most of my life

on busy streets

and known

not enough

of alleyways

where the sort

of sordid people

stray where

the world di-

gests & discards

what it refuses

will you not

take my hand

then?—rush into

this narrow

interstice

of the city's

unconscious; slip

into this

haunted space

where

hungry weeds

suckle pavement;

broken bottles

glitter and bristle

as we pass

through this

shady breath be-

tween buildings

let us be brief,

my love;

let us not

get caught,

still:

let us go—"