Bridget Eileen at the Zinc Bar - My Poetry Reading in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, NYC (NY, USA, Earth, Milky Way, etc)

Sorta Selfie - The Zinc Bar with me in the Reflection of the Window

Bridget Eileen Poetry Reading at the Zinc Bar in The Village 

First and foremost, I want to note: I LOVE DOING POETRY READINGS!!! Some people hate them, but I think I came to poetry by way of a performing arts background, it's one of my favorite things about being a poet. I certainly love it more than sending poems out to publish. That's a vulnerability that's not my favorite. But being in front of everyone to read is, for me, the best. If you're ever looking for readers for your series, I will happily do it. And, if I do say so myself, I put on a pretty good show, because I love it.

So I was really happy when I was invited to be a featured reader at the poetry reading series at the Zinc Bar in Greenwich Village back at the end of April. It was a more or less last minute invitation; it came at the beginning of April and I couldn't confirm I could go until the middle of April. But off I was able to go and it was a lot of fun, though a smaller affair on account of it being one of the most beautiful Spring Days probably in the history of the North East.

Have you been to New York City ever? It really is pretty damn magical. Just full of energy and vibrancy and life. (And dirt, grime and toughness, but that can be slightly appealing in its own gritty way, too.)

The reading took place just a few days after Prince had died. So with just a few days before the reading, I scrapped the last group of poems I'd picked out for my 20 minute set and did something special for the mournful occasion.

I have all my poems stored on Google drive, so I searched for the word "purple" and gathered all the poems with the -- OMG freaky! As I was typing this "I Wanna Be Your Lover" began playing on my old-school iPod with a playlist of 300+ songs! It's a message from the Purple One that he endorses his tribute! -- anyway, gathered all the poems with the word purple and created a small chapbook. I closed my reading by reading "The Purple Poems" in honor of Prince and handed out homemade copies to the cozy but enthusiastic crowd.