My wife’s water broke in the passenger seat of our Jetta in the hopital
parking garage.
We laughed at our luck till we cried,
just as much out of being scared.
First-born daughter in my arms 22 November hours later,
I said her name a dozen times,
smelled her swaddled newness,
promised her that my devils would not be hers.
Matt Smythe hails from the Finger Lakes region of western New York. An Army veteran and lifelong outdoorsman, Matt suffers from an inability to sit still. If he’s not in the woods, or on the water, he’s scheming ways to get there. His work has appeared in Free Range American, Gray’s Sporting Journal, the Fly Fish Journal, The Drake, Southern Culture on the Fly, Revive, Midcurrent, TROUT Magazine, and a handful of other non-outdoors-related magazines and literary journals. He recently published a book of poetry with Dead Reckoning Collective titled Revision of a Man, where this poem first appeared.
What’s happening at VetRep…
Tickets are going fast for the Parlor this season, our show in May is Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon. The night after their grandfather’s funeral, three cousins engage in a verbal (and sometimes physical) battle. In one corner is Daphna Feygenbaum, a “Real Jew” who is volatile, self-assured and unbending. In the other is her equally stubborn cousin Liam, a secular and entitled young man, who has his shiksa girlfriend, Melody, in tow. Stuck in the middle is Liam’s brother, Jonah, who tries to stay out of the fray. When Liam stakes claim to their grandfather's Chai necklace, a vicious and hilarious brawl over family, faith, and legacy ensues. Don’t miss out, reserve your tickets for Bad Jews here!
We are currently offering multiple dates for our online and in-person Playwriting for Veterans classes, and our Acting for Beginners class is now being offered weekly every Saturday from 10am-12pm. Scholarships for qualifying veterans, as well as multi-class passes are available. Registration details can be found here.
Help us move into our permanent home at 1 Angola Rd! A public hearing will be held on May 9 at 7pm at Town Hall in Cornwall in reference to our request to change our zoning from residential to commercial. This is a critical step for us to be able to move forward and get into our new space. If you are able, please come out to the meeting and show your support. If you cannot attend but wish to write a letter you can email it to: supervisor@cornwallny.gov