Evan Myquest and Lelania Fowler

Saturday July 24 at 7:30 PM

1169 Perkins Way

Sacramento, CA

Open Mic

Please bring a mask if you have not been vaccinated

evanmyquest

Bio:

Eva West, born in the German speaking part of Switzerland, a U.S. citizen since 1978, is the designated performer of the poems of her husband, the non-performing poet, Evan Myquest. She is a freelance translator and the publisher of Vammon Press (chap books) and UphillBothWays Poetry Micropress. Eva got her bachelor’s degree from Aargauische Kantonsschule in Aarau, Switzerland, the same college Albert Einstein attended. Among Eva’s literary translations are the memoirs of Frieda Baumgartner, Rainer Maria Rilke’s housekeeper during his stay at Château Muzot in Switzerland, from German into English. And she translated into German Sandy Thomas’ poems of The Gypsy Caravan in the Black Forest, a dual language poetry chapbook published by herself.

Evan Myquest (Mike West) is a poet, writer, and Cubs fan married to his Swiss-German wife, Eva. They live near Sacramento, California, and are known for being café arts and music patrons. Myquest was born in North Central Illinois, grew up on the pulp magazines of the day, and in 1974 attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Workshop at Michigan State University studying under Damon Knight and Harlan Ellison. In 2017, a tribute documentary video by Susana Halfon featuring his poetry was premiered at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. As of late, Evan has been the sole American participating in an international zoom reading hosted in Rome by poetry performing and writing maestro Beppe Costa.

The Wish

She rubbed the

       lamp

wished her only

       wish


     with the

gentleness

     her mother used

     so long ago


the genie

brushed her hair

 

Fowler

Born and reared on the Eastside of Santa Barbara, California, Lelania Fowler experienced a Chicano/Hippie hybrid childhood. Later as a homeless teen, she bounced between Long Beach, Hollywood, and her hometown of Santa Barbara before relocating to Sacramento. In the late 1980’s she became part of a thriving music and arts scene and she began songwriting for local musicians. She writes about PTSD, Sexual Violence, California nature themes and is a mental health activist. Her poetry has most recently been published in Quiet Rooms, and VOICES, global anthologies published by Cold River Press. Under a Milk Glass Moon, is her first collection of Poetry.


BOLINAS
On the warm turtle
back of the Mesa, there
are stars- no milk as
clear as moonshine.
Non- denominational
quail sleep under a
moon as close as a
sibling, it pulls their
feathers into a crest and
freckles them with Stardust.
A fault runs the length
of a lagoon, black with
seals who know when
to breathe and when to close
their liquid eyes. Grey fox kits
play above freshwater pools
of red-legged frogs and
tell tales of the Coho to skunks
who don’t believe in anything
but fat moles and the time keeping
of crickets. Yellowthroats with
salt marsh voices croon of mayflies,
alighting on grasses where jumping
mice tremble warmly. A man sits under
the imploring arms of a Marin manzanita
who is in love with the wind. He plays
a fiddle safe from spiders and the devil,
guarded by a rattlesnake tail. A mountain beaver
chews in time, whilst a great blue heron
places his mighty toes stirring soft silt
into echoes of dream clouds. A mighty finger
invites you to leave, as peregrine depart
on eucalyptus scented currents,
relieving the tigers of owls from their
jackrabbit travels. Light skips in luck over
a brackish pond and it smells like snake
as the bow jumps over the strings.
You might wake belly up, lint ball in
your pocket to find yourself in dry weather.