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mint field at the Crosby Mint Farm, St Johns, Michigan – foto by Smith

Troubadour 21, a Detroit on-line poetry / art / fotos / short story site, has added five of my poems and one of my true short stories.

For the Smith menu, click on troubadour21.com/author/smith/
Or for individual efforts, try
Grease Your Grill
Alone This Train
Now Zen
White Boy Blues
Bye Buy
My First Armed Robbery

A couple of weeks ago, Lady and I rode up with the hosts of the monthly poetry venue Lix and Kix (John Burroughs aka Jesus Crisis and Diane Borsenik) to St. Johns, Michigan (just north of Lansing) to read poetry at the Save The Crosby Mint Farm benefit–they’re the oldest continuously running mint farm in America and are being foreclosed due to $330,000 of debt.

After the benefit, on the way back to Cleveland, we stopped by the Beat Cafe in Detroit to read as special guest readers. William Burkholder and Carlton Smith III of the Beat Cafe readings are also editors of Troubadour 21 (it usually makes it more easy to get published when you actually meet the publishers in the flesh before submitting–although in London I got in the first two issues of The Delinquet before meeting the editors; then after I’d met them, they rejected me for issue #3). The Beat Cafe has a most excellent and vigorous poetry scene.

We’d gotten up at 5 in the morning, left at 7, and got back to Cleveland at 3 the next morning. Miles and miles and hours and hours to read 1 poem at the Mint Farm and 5 poems at the Beat Cafe. Poets are crazy – they’ll travel hundreds of miles and then pay someone else just to read one poem. In many events, like the Mint Farm and the Hessler Street Fair, poets are filler, not so much respected as just used to soften the spaces between the music and other events. Poets don’t get no respect. But at least in my case I got the girl, because my poetry and art are what lead Lady to me.

For a list of all the writers and artists available on Troubadour 21, click troubadour21.com/troubadours/




mint farm bandstand, mint barn, mint farmer – fotos by Smith

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