PRESCRIPTIVE POETS







Poetry may not seem like the obvious medium to explore the prescriptive pacifying of a generation, but Jones says it was the only method she knew. On Monday, her desire to explore this subject through verse will be fulfilled when several of the poets featured in the recently released anthology A Chaos of Angels (Word Walker Press, 2006) read selected poems for “Moonday in the Village.” The event will be held at Village Books in Pacific Palisades.



The anthology is the brainchild of Jones, according to Alice Pero, a close friend and fellow poet also featured in the anthology. “Lois presented the idea to me … and I loved it right away,” Pero enthuses.



Jones says she never anticipated the interest her idea has generated. “When [Pero and I] placed an ad in Poets & Writers, we never expected the amount of feedback we received,” she marvels. Jones and Pero read hundreds of poems from poets around the world wanting to be included in the anthology. The end result is just what the two hoped for: spirituality-inflected works emphasizing that people can use their mind and willpower to overcome many ailments of modern living – without automatically turning to prescription drugs for the fix. “The poems demonstrate the driving force of the individual – the power and passion of a being whose magnitude and potential are limitless,” says Jones.



Jones notes that the date of the reading event, September 11, is a coincidence but nonetheless significant. That day “has come to symbolize a time in which one reflects on the condition of the world and the part we have to play in making it a better place,” she offers. “Our anthology aligns with that same sense of awareness. Our actions do impact the world, and what we do as a group goes further than any one individual.”



–David Davin



“Moonday in the Village.” Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore Ave., Pacific Palisades, (310) 454-4063. Mon. at 7:30 p.m. Free. Moondaypoetry.com.



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