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A Night of Poetry on Pond Lane

A reading comes to the Southampton Cultural Center
By
Baylis Greene

It’s spring, it’s National Poetry Month, it’s time for something different — something new, that is, at the South­ampton Cultural Center on Pond Lane. 

“It seemed to me that a poetry evening would be a good use of the space,” Bruce Levine, who has organized what he hopes will be a monthly series, said in an email last week. 

“Our goal for the evening is to create more of a ’50s coffeehouse feel, sitting in the round and having a semi-reading/discussion event, rather than a formal reading and open mike.” It starts at 7 p.m. tomorrow. “We hope everyone will participate by reading their works and sharing ideas together in an informal setting, thereby making it a homogeneous atmosphere.”

Mr. Levine is a poet, naturally, but a man of many other talents, as well: a musician and composer, a fiction writer, and a painter. He lives in Middle Island.

That “our” above refers to his partner, Jane Briganti, a poet who joined him in putting together the reading, which they will host. A second one is set for May 17. 

Below is a short seasonal poem by Ms. Briganti. 

“A Tree Waits for Spring”

Cold winds blow

Leaves drift on the ground

Birds abandon nests

Silence surrounds

Steadfast alone

Leaves bloom again

Birds return to sing

A tree waits for spring


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