Open Mic
The Yakima Coffeehouse Poets presents Open Mic Night on the second
Wednesday (new night!) of each month, September through May. We would like to thank Larson
Gallery, W Nob Hill Blvd & 16th Ave, YVC Campus, in Yakima, for allowing us the use of its Gallery
Space. This event is open to the public and people are encouraged to read their original poetry (please
keep your reading time to about 4 minutes). Donations are welcome at the door..
|
Next Open
Mic!
Wednesday
November 14, 2018, 7pm
Larson Gallery, YVC
Campus
(Corner of W Nob Hill
Blvd & 16th Ave)
Free parking for open mic night is available in the main YVC
parking lot next to Parker Field, east of Larson Gallery.
Guest Host: Betty Van
Ryder
Betty Van Ryder has lived in Yakima for 60 years. She taught ninth grade at
Franklin Junior High followed by teaching in the gifted program. Her writing interest began
in elementary school and has never waned. Betty continues to connect with others writers
through the Yakima Coffeehouse Poets. She has a parallel interest in art and is very happy we
are at Larson Gallery for our Open Mic Night readings.
|
Ars Poetica 2018
This is a quiet poem
that does not shout
or whistle
or stamp her feet.
She tiptoes over soft grass
in her bare feet
along the seashore
enjoying the wet sand
squishing though her toes.
She pauses to drink in the
beauty
of the pastel clouds
drifting across the blue sky.
She feels the gentle breeze
caress her face
and whispers this poem is for you.
—Betty Van Ryder
|
|
Like the Poetry contest, Open Mic Night got its start at Allied Arts. The event was initiated in 2005 by local poet
Elaine Smith and was encouraged by the former Allied Arts director Elizabeth Herres Miller and her successor
Jessica Moskwa. They felt a monthly forum where local poets could read original work would complement the
annual contest. They were right. Poets Claire Carpenter, Dotty Armstrong, Chuck Forster, Rod Nelson, Linda Brown,
Ed Stover, Elaine Smith, and Mark Fuzie have kept Open Mic alive.
Open Mic Night was popular at the outset and remains so as a program now run by the Yakima
Coffeehouse Poets. Come read a poem and meet your fellow Yakima poets.
| 
