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Host Dennis Morton welcomed two guests to the Poetry Show on October 4, 2015. One was , who came to read from and discuss his new book, titled . The other guest was , creator and editor of a true Santa Cruz treasure – .
As you might guess from the book title, Tom Crawford has a special interest in birds, the subject of many of his poems. One of Tom’s poems can be found in the newest issue of Catamaran (the third time for Tom), which provided the connecting link for Tom and Catherine’s joint visit to the show.
The of Catamaran Literary Reader contains, in addition to Tom’s poem Care Dog, a wealth of art and literature that has to be seen to be appreciated. Every time a new quarterly issue appears, we endeavor to get Catherine Segurson on the show to tell us about it. This is now the eleventh issue, and we hope to keep seeing them for years to come. Get out to your favorite local independent bookstore and pick up a copy.
From Tom’s website, here’s one of the poems he read on the Poetry Show (which also appeared in a past issue of Catamaran):
EARTH ART
My heart I had to approachwith wheelbarrow and pick,
and the impossible task
of believing in what I could not see.
So, when the Yellow-bellied Chat
showed up in a line,
up-side-down, hanging
on the grape arbor
for the fat, black grapes
in my backyard I knew
my old hands out ahead of me
were on to something more
than hope, that every poem,
if you kept at it, could be a bird
coming into view, but also
waves or, if you like,
particles, thanks to those waffling
physicists who can’t agree
on what’s real. But I already knew,
young, I could choose, if unhappy
(because we do need solace),
my very own god.
