Poetry Month at the Kensington Neighborhood Library

This past week, Five-Two alum Aja Beech asked me to contribute a poem with a Philadelphia connection for Poetry Month at the Kensington Neighborhood Library.

I chose "Prayer for the Man Who Mugged My Father, 72" by Charles Harper Webb, who was born in Philadelphia. I reprinted Webb's poem with permission in the 2011 fourth chapbook of The Lineup: Poems on Crime series that preceded The Five-Two.

My contribution and commentary appeared on the library's Facebook page last night. Thanks again to Aja and supervisor of the library's Adult/Teen section Sara S. Palmer.

As a bonus, here's Keith Snyder's April 30, 2011 dramatic reading of Webb's poem. Keith will also be reading the May 18-24, 2020 Five-Two poem "CA" by Ron Riekki, about playground basketball in the time of COVID-19.

Keith Snyder reads "Prayer for the Man Who Mugged My Father, 72" by Charles Harper Webb

Several blog tour participants were moved by Charles Harper Webb's "Prayer for the Man Who Mugged My Father, 72". Keith Snyder was moved to create an audio presentation with which we end the tour.

Hear Keith read "Prayer for the Man Who Mugged My Father, 72" on SoundCloud.

My thanks again to the participants and audience. I hope we've sparked a lasting appreciation for poetry.

Sample Poems

Links to some poems that first appeared or were reprinted in The Lineup (Issue number in parentheses):

Patrick Shawn Bagley, "110 M.P.H. in a Stolen Pickup" (1)
David Corbett, "Bargain" (4)
Sarah Cortez, "Serial Killer" (3)
Anne Frasier, "Home" (3)
H. Palmer Hall, "The Collector" (4)
Peter Meinke, "What Wild-Eyed Murderer" (4)
Carol Novack, "Willie" (2)
Gerald So, "Witness Protection" (1)
Gerald So, "Mickey Spillane" (1)
John Stickney, "Creation" (4)
Wallace Stroby, "Independence Day, 1976" (3)
Charles Harper Webb, "Prayer for The Man Who Mugged My Father, 72" (4)

Visit our Books section to find or purchase The Lineup.

Patricia Abbott on "Prayer For the Man Who Mugged My Father, 72"

For the third stop on the So Dark For April blog tour, Lineup alum Patricia Abbott praises the poetry of Charles Harper Webb.

Coincide-nce

Before we met through The Lineup #4, Michael Casey, Charles Harper Webb, and I had poems in Nerve Cowboy #29 (Spring 2010), edited by Joseph Shields and Jerry Hagins.

Casey's poem was "In Dreams", Webb's was "Why I Don't Write Much About Music", and mine was "We Might Have".

Charles Harper Webb

Charles Harper Webb is a rock singer turned psychotherapist and Professor of English at California State University-Long Beach.  He has published ten collections of poetry and edited three anthologies of poetry.