My Artistic Friends Over the Years Part 18; Jack H. and Eduardo L.

 On the left is the front of the 4W5 Cafe, one in Wilmington. It is where the Second Saturday poets met each note for a while. Second Saturday moved locations several times. We also met just up the street from here at Franco's Bar. 

Although Eduardo and Jack were part of the crown at Second Saturday, the is not where I first got their acquaintance. That was at Barnes and Nobles when the weekly poetry group movers from Borders where we used to meet until the young lady that facilitated tragically died. Then Dallas Kirk Gantt took over the leadership.

     when I first went to the Poetry group it was with some tripidation.  Despite having begun writing verse in Grade School and have some poems published, I was far from confident in myself, and especially so when I showed up with a small group of accomplished poets. The fellows who greeted me were older, already moving into the eights, with the except of Dallas. I took my wife along for moral support and had printed and folded about six of my poems I had stuffed in my pocket. But much to me surprise they like my stuff, especially one called "Library Spider". They found deep meaning in it, I guess; any rate, they hd m read it several times.

     Jack Hardy, pictured here on the right, had published a small volume. Is poems tend to be ver formal and historic, and he always read them in a boring voice.

     Eduardo LaCerata was from Portugal and had written many poems in his native language. He was always celebrated when he went back to his native country, an had honors from there.  He had written several books in Portuguese, but what he rote and read in our group were in English, usually in triple lines, often ironic and often political. He had a weakness for straying into political topics. We are there to read our poetry, no to espouse some cause. I do not discuss politics with others, so I always tried to get us back on course. But he was a delightful man; both were. 

    It has been a year since I was able to go to any such meetings, so I do not know if they both still survive. I hope they so.