this year's national poetry month might be coming to a close, but every day is a great day for poems in our book. we think our featured poet today would agree: Paul Koniecki lives and breathes poetry, and has graciously shared his piece, luminescent oils, with us to continue our celebration of the written word! Paul is the host of Vellum Oroborus and the co-creator of Pandora's Box Poetry Showcase (featuring spiderweb co-founder & organizer, courtney marie in May!) which will also be a part of the just-announced 2017 Deep Ellum Lit Hop on June 3! if you are ever looking for poetry in dallas, just find Paul.
Paul's writing prompt: create a poem that grows from any possible meaning of the word "recycle"
luminescent oils
i think if john dorsey had written
a poem about the time we lived
in that little apartment on fort worth
avenue between the i30 on-ramp
and the miramar motel with all the
car troubles and the kid's car troubles
the trips to king tire for twenty-six
dollar used specials or ten dollar plugs
your famous lentil chick-pea curry
black-bean tomato soup simmering on
the stove and us trying to feed and save
all the world and the beautiful lights
i think he would of called us
luminescent oils
like the bottle of body-wash this morning
standing watch in the corner of the shower
Paul Koniecki is co-curator of Pandora's Box Poetry Showcase at Deep Vellum Books in Dallas, Texas where he also hosts the monthly open mic series, The Vellum Ouroboros. Most recently his chapbook, Reject Convention, was published by Kleft Jaw Press and his poems have appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies since 1985. Noted director Richard Bailey's film, "One Of The Rough" contains several Paul Koniecki original poems and was shown at The Berlin Experimental Film Festival in December of 2016. When he isn't writing he is dreaming of being reborn as a poetry tree. He once featured at the Fermoy International Poetry Festival in Fermoy, Ireland.
Paul Koniecki at the very cold Poetry March December 2016