Reading at The Ugly Mug

Last Wednesday, I had the wonderful opportunity to be a featured reader at The Ugly Mug in Orange. Two other Chapman poets and I read some of our own work and work from Calliope Art & Literary Magazine.

This experience was a lot of fun for me. I really enjoy sharing poetry, and it's especially fun when you get the opportunity to share your own work, as well as some of the great work that has been published in Calliope over the years.

I read the first poem that I ever had published -- a short poem called "Of Monsters and Men." It was published in the Fall 2013 edition of Calliope, which was released my first semester at Chapman as a freshman. I joked with the crowd: "This is the first poem I've published. I'll read some newer ones later tonight, so we can see how I've grown -- or degenerated -- as a poet." That, and the actual content out of the poem got everyone laughing and in good spirits.

Of Monsters and Men by Robert Julius 

Spider, spider on the wall,
it is vile to watch you crawl!
You're an eight-legged, web-weaving creep
trying to kill me while I sleep!
Too many eyes for such a small face,
we should exterminate your entire race!
I fear to touch you, so I'll take my shoe
and to your death I shall smother you! 

Human, human in the room
if only like the microscope, could you zoom.
But you see only with narrow-lens eyes,
fashioned in clothes which act as disguise.
You have forgotten that you, too, are a creature.
So lean in closer, and let me play teacher:
You tell me, "You are of monsters, and I am of men,"
but you are more monster than you are man, friend.

After this, I read a few poems by some other Chapman poets, and of course, a few poems that reflect my recent work. The night was a lot of fun! I've gone to the readings at The Ugly Mug a few times before, but it was a lot more fun when I was able to go on stage and read for over ten minutes. For those who are interested, poetry readings at The Ugly Mug happen each Wednesday at 8 PM. There is a $3 cover charge to get in.