Eighth Annual New Year’s Eve Reading at Poe’s Grave
Baltimore poet Tracy Dimond reads the work of Ada Limon — Dandelion Insomnia — in 26 degrees on the morning of 12.31.25 at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe. Listening on the right is host and storyteller Rafael Alvarez.
Enrica Jang, director of Poe Baltimore, shares upcoming expansion plans for the fabled Poe House on Amity Street.
Longtime Alvarez co-conspirator Tyrone Crawley reads Poe’s “A Dream Within a Dream.” On far right is Scott Burkholder, a Baltimore ambassador of the arts.
Truth & Tea
– by Margo Christie
Part I: “Opa”
He lived in chief engineer’s quarters
a seaman’s cap, a mistress, and a union card
for props. He traveled the world, wide
Brought green ware from India, wafer-thin
porcelain teacups painted with sinister
looking men, that he gifted to his bride
My mother would keep them long after he died
They gazed down at us from their cabinet positions
Uneasy, we sat and ate
It felt like Mom was tempting fate
keeping these guys around so long
after even the cabinet was gone
Part II: “Oma”
She survived in a narrow brick rowhouse
surrounded by her brood and a handful
of strangers – No husband around
What would she care for cups on a shelf?
when what she wanted was a ticket
out of town. Tacoma, State of Washington
was her one true home, and she was young
as it was far, when her sailing man came around
to turn her world crazy, upside-down
so much, she could no longer fathom the miles
between dirty harbor, smoke-choked sky
and her mountains, the evergreen trees, so high!
She didn’t navigate her course with ease
like her husband—No.
She drank herself into disease
Seems she did, at last, find use for the cups
her daughter seemed content to gaze upon
Seventh Annual New Year’s Eve Reading at Poe’s Grave
This year’s ringing out the old with hope for the new poetry ritual at Poe’s Grave celebrated the writer Nikki Giovanni, who died December 9th, 2024 at age 81. Alvarez sips a cup of Dunkin’ coffee at the corner of Fayette and Greene as the first of several Giovanni poems are read adjacent to Edgar’s monument.…
Sixth Annual New Year’s Eve Reading at Poe’s Grave
The 2023 New Year’s Eve Reading at Poe’s Grave commenced at 9:30 a.m. at the corner of Fayette & Greene. It was a small group this year, anchored by braciolejournal.com founders Alvarez, Oldham and Crawley along with regulars Amy Scattergood and Anne Haddad. Fortified by a “box of Joe,” a dozen doughnuts and gourmet goodies…
Fifth Annual New Year’s Eve Reading at Poe’s Grave 12.31.22
Jackie Oldham reads “A Dream Within A Dream” at the Fifth Annual New Year’s Eve morning reading of the works of Edgar Allan Poe at his grave in downtown Baltimore. Photos: Macon Street Books Rafael Alvarez, with Poe fans (left) and Tyrone Crawley, with Poe fans on the right, celebrate the Fifth Annual coffee, doughnuts…
Fourth Annual New Year’s Eve Reading at Poe’s Grave 12.31.21
Alvarez takes notes on the poem “To Helen,” at the 4th Annual New Year’s Eve Reading at Poe’s Grave / 2021.
Third Annual New Year’s Eve Morning At Poe’s Grave
12.31.20 Rafael Alvarez and Tyrone Crawley observe the greatness of the 19th century poet on the last day of a plague-ravaged year, thus the lock on the boneyard gate and absence of crowd.
Second Annual New Year’s Eve Reading at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe / 2019
We gathered for the Second Annual New Year’s Eve Reading at Poe’s Grave at 9 a.m. with coffee, doughnuts and homemade baklava. It was a mild and sunny-to-overcast day. “I hold that a long poem does not exist…” / EAP
First Annual New Year’s Eve Reading at Poe’s Grave / 2018
Alvarez at the corner of West Fayette and Greene streets
History of Poetry in Baltimore / 1945 to the present 