Alameda Island Poets will celebrate National Poetry Month with a reading featuring John Rowe, Jan Dederick and Maurine Killough. Nanette Deetz is hosting the reading. Light refreshments will be served and an open mic follows the featured poets.
Rowe has had poems appear in a variety of small press journals and anthologies. His latest chapbook is Beyond Perspective from Finishing Line Press.
Rowe’s previous poetry chapbooks At My Wit’s Beginning and Winsome Losesome showcase his tendencies toward whimsical word play and a minimalist approach.
Warriors for the Working Day
When I was a little boy,
my mom worked,
And so one day I went to daycare,
Where she let go of my hand,
And someone else,
A woman I did not yet know,
Took it in hers,
And took care of me.
When I was old enough for school it happened again:
My mom walked me to
Wilson Elementary,
Held again my little hand,
Comforting me,
Until a different woman
welcomed me,
With excitement,
warmth and love.
The Alameda Free Library will host animal visitors this Saturday, March 24, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Children’s Department of the Main Library, 1550 Oak St. Families will have the opportunity to meet animals from the Oakland Zoo at 11 a.m., Wild Things, Inc. at 1 p.m., and Tracy the Animal Guy at 3 p.m. In between each event, the library will have supplies available for children to make animal-themed crafts.
Friends of the Alameda Free Library sponsors this free event. Seating is first-come, first-served, and a full room is expected.
Island City Opera has crowned its highly successful season with what is indisputably Vincenzo Bellini’s most accomplished opera, La Sonnambula. For nearly 200 years, La Sonnambula has enjoyed sustained success and popularity since its triumphal opening in Milan in 1831. In its premier performance, during the second act, the singers themselves wept. Although this is not tragic opera, you may find yourself dabbing your eyes.
Straight from India via San Jose, Rhythmix Cultural Works (RCW) presents Aki Kumar’s Bollywood Blues on Saturday, March 24. Kumar’s band demonstrates that down-home Chicago and Mississippi blues and Bollywood music have a lot in common and complement each other well. The evening will be further enhanced by delicious barbecue provided by Oakland Smoke Shack starting at 7 p.m.
