National Poetry Month: April 8

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Robert Vaughan

Hi friends,

Remember camp? My first experience was a day camp, probably second or third grade. I cried the first day, didn’t want to be away from mom or my sisters. But then all of those interesting projects we made: boondoggle to dangle from the keys I didn’t yet have, a ceramic inlay ashtray for parents who smoked secretly away from the other, or a new parcheesi board for a family that preferred to downhill ski or toboggan.

Then came the father and son camps: through indian guides, fishing competitions (more mosquito bites than perch), scary midnight dares with flashlights.

I graduated to one week camps, even two week camps in which we set up our very own “Olympics” and had several different categories in which you could “go for the gold.”

To honor these experiences, National Poetry Month, and more…

today I read Rachel B. Glaser’s “Camp”:

Robert Vaughan reads Rachel B. Glaser’s “Camp” – YouTube

Did you go to camp? Are you camp? If so, how, when, where?

About Robert Vaughan

Originally from NY, Robert leads week long writing retreats at sites like Synergia Ranch, Mabel Dodge Luhan House and The Clearing. His poems and fiction are published in over 600 print and online magazines, such as Necessary Fiction, BlazeVOX, Los Angeles Weekly, Literary Orphans, and Smokelong Quarterly. He is Editor-in-Chief at Bending Genres and leads round- tables for Redoak Writing in Milwaukee. He is nine times a Pushcart Prize Nominee and his fiction and poetry have won awards, including a Micro-Fiction runner-up (2012) and twice a finalist in the Gertrude Stein Fiction Award (2013-14). His flash fiction was selected for Best Small Fictions 2016 and 2019. His books are: Microtones (Cervena Barva Press); Diptychs + Triptychs + Lipsticks + Dipshits (Deadly Chaps); Addicts & Basements (Civil Coping Mechanisms); RIFT, co-authored with Kathy Fish (Unknown Press), and FUNHOUSE (Unknown Press).
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6 Responses to National Poetry Month: April 8

  1. Andrea says:
    April 8, 2013 at 2:32 pm

    No camp. Just campy. LOL! Thanks for the fab posting. xoxo

    Reply
  2. Jackie says:
    April 8, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    I am really digging your poetry videos! Very informative subject for a Blog… Keep up the really good readings!

    Reply
  3. Kate HC says:
    April 8, 2013 at 2:57 pm

    I went to gymnastics camp when I was far too young to go away to camp. I got a blood blister on my toe and I used this as my reason to believe that I would die there, an awful and lonely death. My father has a letter i wrote to him that reads something like this: Dear Dad, You told me that they would be serving Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and so far that have not served any Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. I don’t like this place. The bigger girls threw powder all over our room. Love, Katie.

    Reply
    • Robert Vaughan says:
      April 8, 2013 at 8:49 pm

      Love this response, Katie! And that your Dad saved the letter about the peanut and jelly sandwiches. Yes! Camp brings all sorts of stuff up for many people. This is exactly why I loved this simple, yet deep poem of Rachel’s to celebrate this part of growing up.

      Reply

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