May 27, 2010

Gerald McBreen is a retired letter carrier with the U.S. postal service. A member of the Auburn Morning Toastmasters and the Academy of American Poets, Gerald is the poet laureate of the city of Pacific and coordinator of the Striped Water Poets of Auburn. He has been published in various anthologies and magazines including Rochhurst Review, The Broome Review, and Crab Creek Review. About his poetry, he says: “Recently I heard a speaker using words I recognized. My head went light and I felt a tickle in my chest. I couldn't help smiling. It was the first time I heard my own words being read back to me. I try to write something that will elevate a reader’s passion, connect to his own experience, and encourage him to articulate it in words of his own comfort level. If I make a reader smile, that’s okay too.”

Jim Meyer started writing poetry in the seventh grade after he started reading Robert Frost and Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Coney Island of the Mind. As time went on, he tapered off on writing but gained plenty of life experiences, especially in the military, which inspired him to write later in his 40s. He started writing regularly in 2000 when he attended SPLAB, the Spoken Word Laboratory, in Auburn, Washington. Since then, he has participated in various open-mic venues. He’d like to be more involved in the poetry community, which is a challenge when working as a grocery clerk with constantly changing work schedules. One of his goals is to publish his poetry in a literary magazine that he has researched and liked. One of his favorite poetry venues is at the Bai Pai Lounge in Seattle.