Miss the Poetry Marathon? That series of readings at the Marine Museum and later the Mulford Farm that ran for some 25 years until Covid-19 hit? You might recall that it was last run by Dee Slavutin.
Well, for fans of not just poetry but sculpture garden greenery, paintings, and handbags-as-art, there’s a new setting for readings, and it is choice — the Leiber Collection in Springs, where on Tuesday at 5 p.m. joining Ms. Slavutin, again one of the organizers, in reading from their work will be Rosalind Brenner, a contributor to The Star over the years, Walter Donway, who writes of current events in traditional forms, and Linda Opyr, a past Nassau County poet laureate.
Ahead of the readings, at 4, there will be tours of the museum and refreshments. Free tickets can be reserved on Eventbrite, and donations to the Judith and Gerson Leiber Collection will be accepted.
And then poets will return on Aug. 13, same time, same place, with Michelle Murphy, LB Thompson, Sarah Goodman, and Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan.
As an enticement, below is “Facets” by Ms. Slavutin.
I am a crystal, one of thousands
snugly fitted in a Judith Leiber minaudiere.
I come from Austria, but I speak French.
Devoted women arrive by subway,
ache with pride when they change into their smocks,
take their seat, lift me as though I am air,
place me, one by one . . . just so.
I am beauty. I am as tiny as your pupil.
I make your eyes dilate.
I am clutched, doted on, loved.
Sometimes I’m set in an oval egg.
Carol Burnett’s made me laugh;
Beverly Sills’s sang to me.
In these dazzling eggs there’s room only
for lipstick, which should be ruby red,
like wine to be savored,
a mirror to reflect your perfection,
a key, which you may not need tonight,
a hundred-dollar bill, in case you do.
Leave your cellphone at home,
instead, watch people watch me.