Fred Gerhard, author of Drifting to “Hello” and Lilacs Still Bloom in Ashburnham, will be reading poems from his mother, Rena Gerhard’s posthumously published book, The Loving: Selected Poems. Following the reading at 8:00 p.m. we transition to our monthly fourth Tuesday Open Mic. At New Dawn Arts Center, 84 Main Street in Ashburnham, MA.
About Rena Gerhard:
“As the middle of the Twentieth Century approached, a young woman near Reading, Pennsylvania, took up poetry keenly aware of the thick, heavy glass ceiling hovering over every line she wrote…The silence seems too tense. / One fears to breathe in case one might / Thus doing, cause offense. She quietly kept at it, quietly riding that horse, as she notes in ‘Strange Steed’: When the wise had gone to bed / To receive their well-earned rest, / Then I watched him as he fed, / And I sat his back, a guest / Instead.”
—Rodger Martin, author of The Sleeping Dogs of Lubec, The Nemo Poems: A Martian Perspective, The Blue Moon Series, and For All the Tea in Zhōngguó
“So many people long for that presence, which would keep their loved ones alive forever. We search under afghans, trapse through attics, and roam down long forgotten places for one gem, one picture, or one word that would help us remember. Rena, through her poetry, The Loving — she has remained. Be there for a moment with her, and soon, you too, will be jumping in and enjoying her enchanting dance with words.”
—H. Alfke, author of A Smattering: Life, Death, God, and Poetry
