Eunuch Blues

Recorded live at Brickbat Books, Philadelphia, September 2016.

Catch Jim Trainer speaking in Boston next Wednesday April 26, at the Middle East Corner, with the Reverend Kevin O’Brien, Duncan Wilder Johnson, The Droimlins, and Jim Healy.
8:30PM, $5 advance tickets, $8 day of the show.  Please click here.

Jim Trainer will be speaking and reading from All in the wind, his latest collection of poetry and prose, at Toast Philly on Thursday April 27 with local favorites Charlie O’Hay and Lamont Steptoe.
7PM, Please click here.

Jim Trainer returns to the Mill Street Cantina for a special 90 minute set on Friday April 28.
9PM, Please click here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/10/15

Please join us for a great night of poetry and spoken word. Jim Trainer returns to Philly to perform and read with wonderful poet Charlie O’Hay and multi-media artist Bevan McShea.

Charles O’Hay is the recipient of a 1995 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship in poetry. His poems have appeared in over 100 literary publications including Gargoyle, South Carolihna Review, Brooklyn Review, West Branch, Mudfish, and New York Quarterly.
The author lives with his wife and daughter in eastern Pennsylvania. Far From Luck and Smoking In Elevators, O’Hay’s full-length collections of poetry are out now through Lucky Bat Books.

Farewell to Armor, Jim Trainer’s debut full-length collection of poetry, is out now through WragsInk Press. Trainer is the founder of Yellow Lark Press. He currently lives in Austin, Texas where he serves as contributor, curator and editor of Going For The Throat, a twice-weekly publication of cynicism, outrage, correspondence and romance.

Bevan McShea is an artist, musician, and poet from Philadelphia. His journey into poetry began while living in New York City’s East Village, where his spoken word performances earned him a feature presentation at NuYorican Poets Cafe. Bevan’s style has continued to evolve as he weaves his spiritual reflections, lyrical mysticism, and his love for cities and travel into his poetry. His first collection, “The Contour Lion,” is out now through WragsInk Press.

Moonstone Poetry Presents
An Evening of Poetry&Spoken Word
with
Jim Trainer, Farewell to Armor(WragsInk)
Bevan McShea, The Contour Lion(WragsInk)
Charlie O’Hay, Far From Luck, Smoking in Elevators(Lucky Bat Books)
Thursday June 18
at
Brandywine Workshop
728 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146
7pm

CONTACT: Jim Trainer: 512-203-6288
jamesmichaeltrainer@gmail.com
###

Bridges

pullin’ into town
I admire new architecture
but as I drew closer
I began to hear them whisper
then I heard them yell
“Boy, what the hell you tryna do here for?
We told you after the fire, we don’t suffer liars
and we don’t like you.”

well I roam this land perpetually
tryna find a reason to just be me
and she lived here
among the tall wallflowers
I left her here
by the old clock chimin hours

she was there with me
on the killing floor
but it was only me
who walked through
the door
I just came back to
see if there’s any chance that
she plays in the same band
does she got a new man?

well I roam this land perpetually
tryna find a reason to just be me
and she lived here
among the tall wallflowers
I left her here
by the old clock chimin hours

pullin down her street
I can feel my heart racing
as the crowd gathered round
they began to pick up stones
I climbed those stairs alone
the crowd swarmed around
but when I knocked on her front door
her porch light went out

there’s a train rollin’ in
there’s a moon in the sky
there’s no reason to live
and no reason to die
but she lived here
among you tall wallflowers
I left her here
won’t the old clock chime a year?

she lived here
I saw her in a dream once
years ago, before the fire
before I knew what losin was

Recorded live at Melodies Cafe on 1/9/15 for the Bluebird Cabaret, Songs of Sadness&Light, featuring
Savy Avrimedes Guthrie
Mark Thousands
Andrew Meoray
and Cardinal Arms.

Confession

Swim
In The Guidance
Of My Beloved
I built a pillar for all the Stars
To Sea
I sang a song to make
Jesus Smile
And then I died
That my Child may be made
Alive

I forged the sword
That could divide the armor
Of any man that it slams
(Swift the mind
Split the planet)
And I threw it into the vast expanse
Of the span of the Atlantic
And it will bloom a tree of coral
In a thousand and twenty years

(Athens, Greece)

by Bevan McShea

Roanoke

The blurred buzzing of the bell
The slow train’s constant hum
The trumpet trailing off Salem Ave
Fountains in mountains of iron

The people seem new
But the city’s the same
Unchanged
Unchallenged by the quiet waves of wind

And everything’s slower
Closer than before
With weathered brick walls
And rusted tracks that look gold

And the cardinal in bloom
Is afire with forever
Singing of home
Under the Mill Mountain Star

The cardinal in bloom
Conquers the violet twilight
Singing of home
By the Mill Mountain Star

by Bevan McShea