Saturday 4/5 7pm - Phil Taggart reads the Rick Poems and Deepakalypse
with friends perform in a benefit for Art City . $ 10
as a part of the “Rick Sings†exhibition Upstairs at the Artist’s Union Gallery
330 California Street – Ventura March 22 – April 27
“Rick Sings†features poems, video and photos by Phil Taggart
Rick Sings
a star rises above the gazebo in Plaza Park
bright shiny new
the police review tickets
get their stories straight
sleeping in public
open containers
they turn the sprinklers on
disperse the homeless
10 days before Christmas
at Busy Bee Rick sings Patsy Cline quietly lovingly
he tells me Jack’s in Whittier
has the best ever French Toast
Jack’s had mom’s favorite salad
with blue cheese
we talk about the rain
his friend living in the riverbottom
he asks about Steve
I don’t tell him Tessa died
no reason to
we walk back to his place
past the park
the sprinklers are on
- Phil Taggart
About twenty-five years ago my mentally ill brother showed up on my doorstep and has lived within a few blocks of me in Ventura ’s Avenue neighborhood ever since.
As a writer I wrote about him, first unconsciously then consciously, pulling all the work together into “The Rick Poems.†I melded the poems with photography and also photographed the homeless as they are a part of Rick’s everyday world and subsequently part of mine.
There’s also a free-form video interview with Rick
many of the poems in the exhibit have been published in SOLO 6, rivertalk,
Solo Cafe3 – 8 Mid-Coast Poets, Ventura Life, Café Solo 40th anniversary issue and Bear Flag Republic, Prose Poems and Poetics.
other events around the show:
Thursday 4/10 7pm - A panel discussion on Ventura County ’s plan to end
Homelessnes in 10 years “Where Are We Now?â€
Saturday 4/12 7pm - A group poetry reading to benefit Turning Point
Foundation. $10
directions to the reading:
from the north:
101 south to Main Street (turn right)
turn right on California Street
the street ends – to your right is a parking structure
the reading is across the plaza from the Crown Plaza
(formerly the Holiday Inn)
from the south:
101 north to California Street (turn left)
the street ends – to your right is a parking structure
the reading is across the plaza from the Crown Plaza
(formerly the Holiday Inn)
if you drive into the ocean you’ve gone too far
