Best American Poetry Blog

Wordplay with George Bilgere and John Donoghue

Nin AndrewsI can't help it. I've been stressed out lately. Partly, thanks to the political climate we are living in. And partly, and I know this is silly, but because I have a new book out, and I am a true introvert. Even social media exhausts me. So many wonderful things have happened around my book, including reviews and readings and interviews like this one with Women's Quarterly, and I am grateful. So grafeful. But I am also filled with dread. I think about the fact that I might even go to AWP next year! I know that's months away, but just the three letters, AWP, puts me on edge. 

When I feel anxious, I have a few antidotes. High on the list is listening to Wordplay with George Bilgere and John Donoghue, two brilliant Cleveland poets. Everyone should listen to it.  It's one of the most enjoyable podcasts out there. I could listen to these two men chatting and laughing and reading poetry forever. The poems they pick, the commentary, the insights . . . it's  uplifting, entertaining, inspiring.  It's better than a glass or two of Chardonnay. And you can enjoy it any time of day. 

On one of the recent podcasts, John Donoghue reads this gem by Paul Violi, which is even funnier when John reads it:

Counterman

By Paul Violi
 
What’ll it be?
 
Roast beef on rye, with tomato and mayo.
 
Whaddaya want on it?
 
A swipe of mayo.
Pepper but no salt.
 
You got it. Roast beef on rye.
You want lettuce on that?
 
No. Just tomato and mayo.
 
Tomato and mayo. You got it.
…Salt and pepper?
 
No salt, just a little pepper.
 
You got it. No salt.
You want tomato.
 
Yes. Tomato. No lettuce.
 
No lettuce. You got it.
…No salt, right?
 
Right. No salt.
 
You got it. Pickle?
 
No, no pickle. Just tomato and mayo.
And pepper.
 
Pepper.
 
Yes, a little pepper.
 
Right. A little pepper.
No pickle.
 
Right. No pickle.
 
You got it.
Next!
 
Roast beef on whole wheat, please,
With lettuce, mayonnaise and a center slice
Of beefsteak tomato.
The lettuce splayed, if you will,
In a Beaux Arts derivative of classical acanthus,
And the roast beef, thinly sliced, folded
In a multi-foil arrangement
That eschews Bragdonian pretensions
Or any idea of divine geometric projection
For that matter, but simply provides
A setting for the tomato
To form a medallion with a dab
Of mayonnaise as a fleuron.
And—as eclectic as this may sound—
If the mayonnaise can also be applied
Along the crust in a Vitruvian scroll
And as a festoon below the medallion,
That would be swell.
 
You mean like in the Cathedral St. Pierre in Geneva?
 
Yes, but the swag more like the one below the rosette
At the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
 
You got it.
Next!