Underground Poetry with Literary Cleveland

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 The opinions expressed on this podcast are not necessarily those of the Northeast Ohio Regional

spk_0 Suer District or its employees.

spk_0 For more information about the Suer District and its projects and programs, visit neorst.org.

spk_0 The Northeast Ohio Regional Suer District presents Clean Water Works, a podcast that explores

spk_0 water, sewer, and stormwater issues that affect you and your community.

spk_0 Learn about the people, projects, and programs that are protecting your health and the environment

spk_0 here in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio.

spk_0 So, one of our project engineers, Christine Umherley, is also part of a local organization called

spk_0 Literary Cleveland.

spk_0 Literary Cleveland is a nonprofit organization and creative writing center that empowers

spk_0 people to explore other voices and discover their own.

spk_0 Literary Cleveland assists writers and readers at all stages of development, promotes new

spk_0 and existing literature of the highest quality and advances Northeast Ohio as a vital

spk_0 center of diverse voices and visions.

spk_0 There you go. And is it literarycleveland.org?

spk_0 It's litcleveland.org.

spk_0 Literary Cleveland just published in collaboration with the Suer District, a Zeen, short stories,

spk_0 poems, and other literary formats.

spk_0 A couple of weeks ago, we brought writers from this organization to venture down into one of

spk_0 the tunnels at our southerly wastewater treatment plant to give a dramatic reading of works that they

spk_0 had written inspired by the Suer District's work and infrastructure and Lake Erie.

spk_0 And they read their poems and short stories and haiku and the group venture down into one of our

spk_0 tunnels at our southerly plant and read these poems and stories out loud.

spk_0 Christine just happens to be a part of this organization and she made this collab happen.

spk_0 She does stuff like that.

spk_0 First time ever.

spk_0 I think it was the second time.

spk_0 Second time ever.

spk_0 I think they did this last year but different.

spk_0 They went down into the tunnels last year.

spk_0 They didn't go into the tunnels but I think they did a tour.

spk_0 They did a tour.

spk_0 But this is the first spooky tour.

spk_0 Yeah, it's a little scary down there.

spk_0 So thank you Christine for making yet another community partnership happen.

spk_0 This time with writers talking about their love of clean water and infrastructure.

spk_0 We're going to broadcast that right now.

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 It starts off actually with Christine explaining what part of the plant the group was in

spk_0 and explaining all the infrastructure going on around.

spk_0 We're also going to hear from Matt Wynecombe.

spk_0 He's the executive director of literary Cleveland and he is the voice that you hear introducing

spk_0 all of the speakers at this event.

spk_0 So here we go.

spk_0 So all the tanks that we walked by that is our second phase secondary treatment.

spk_0 One of the last steps of treatment where we let all of the biological processes eat all the

spk_0 organic material and then it slowly settles out and we have clear water that then

spk_0 goes to disinfection and discharge.

spk_0 So we are underneath where those tanks are and then those big screw pumps that we saw

spk_0 Hi everybody.

spk_0 One more round of applause.

spk_0 I can't believe this is happening.

spk_0 Thank you Danny.

spk_0 Thank you Christine.

spk_0 Thank you.

spk_0 I'm going to read the introduction to this scene.

spk_0 I'm glad you're holding it in your hands for the first time as a test copy.

spk_0 But just some quick backstory.

spk_0 I still remember at a Gordon Square review launch party reading at Bruno's on the west side of town

spk_0 talking with Christine and Laura about the fact that Christine works for the sewer district

spk_0 is a writer herself.

spk_0 It wouldn't be hilarious and funny and cool and interesting to do some writing with the sewer

spk_0 district and what would it be like to take a tour of some of these plants, learn about the

spk_0 different terms procedures and then do a little bit of creative writing about it.

spk_0 And then we invited you all and many others to submit writing on infrastructure on the sewer

spk_0 district.

spk_0 We have really thoughtful moving pieces of poetry and creative nonfiction.

spk_0 And we have the silliest poetry and fiction that you're all ever going to read and to put it all

spk_0 in one package and to be able to share with people is really special.

spk_0 So I'm just going to read the introduction to this.

spk_0 This is my intro.

spk_0 What do creative writing and clean water infrastructure have in common?

spk_0 Why write stories and poems about wastewater treatment?

spk_0 What the heck did literary Cleveland and Northeast Ohio sewer district team up

spk_0 to publish this rad scene?

spk_0 One word connection.

spk_0 As new RSD once shared on Twitter, human connections matter.

spk_0 Remember that below the surface of every human interaction is a world of experience that you

spk_0 may never see.

spk_0 Stories and sewers bind us.

spk_0 They reveal our interconnectedness, our mutual dependence.

spk_0 Words and water are so essential, so foundational, we hardly notice how important they are.

spk_0 It's only when there's a rare breakdown, a massive storm or misunderstanding

spk_0 that we realize how lost we would be without them.

spk_0 Clean water and clear communication are not things we should take for granted.

spk_0 They're things we should celebrate.

spk_0 And that's why since 2023, literary Cleveland has been partnering with the

spk_0 Northeast Ohio sewer district to hold free creative writing workshops at wastewater treatment plants

spk_0 so that local writers could learn more about the inspiring and innovative ways

spk_0 sewer district serves our region.

spk_0 We've toured westerly, southerly, easterly sites, learned about everything from gravity

spk_0 thickening to sludge incineration.

spk_0 We've hiked along the Dome Brook watershed to see the ways green infrastructure can be used

spk_0 to address our current future challenges of our trade changing climate.

spk_0 Last, we invited writers who participated in these programs to share what they learned

spk_0 in creative ways through poetry and storytelling.

spk_0 You now hold the results of this collaboration, this unique connection between water and words

spk_0 in your hands are oaths to infrastructure.

spk_0 So we hope that you enjoyed the scene.

spk_0 We hope that the stories and poems move you and make you laugh.

spk_0 We hope you gain a newfound appreciation for the work of the Northeast Ohio Regional

spk_0 Sewer District.

spk_0 And we hope you go forth and celebrate the connections that matter most.

spk_0 All right, you ready to get started?

spk_0 Yeah.

spk_0 Our first reader today is Melissa Vincel who has written and published poetry,

spk_0 Flash Fiction and Proze for over 25 years.

spk_0 She was a finance for the 2024 Cleveland Breakthrough Writing Residency and Poetry

spk_0 in between raising three humans and working as an editor, she finds current

spk_0 inspiration along the trails of the Cleveland Metro Parks.

spk_0 Visit her website.

spk_0 Please welcome Melissa Vincel.

spk_0 Thank you.

spk_0 2024 on the Kayahoga.

spk_0 My child, Bob's unplastic, the color of flames.

spk_0 Dangle's feet in murky greens of this rock-bottomed river.

spk_0 His tiny fists chase foamy orbs to a signpost near the sandy bank.

spk_0 A plaque to mark the dead buried in fishless depths.

spk_0 Some 55 years downriver.

spk_0 I tense.

spk_0 Imagine my son as slick and flammable.

spk_0 But he paddles away with fingers that care nothing for history floating between limestone and sky.

spk_0 Then the water held too little hydrogen, barely oxygen, trapped bodies that drowned confused a top

spk_0 of film of brown slime.

spk_0 Then children learn to tell time by the burn of rust.

spk_0 Until finally, only 10 mutated gizzard shad, pulsed below, mouths gaping to be the chosen.

spk_0 The river chose fire, a scream of reds and smoky bursts, cracked bridges above the people,

spk_0 while the people stood with heat on their cheeks.

spk_0 Perhaps destruction is always how it begins.

spk_0 Perhaps we can admit that much.

spk_0 And the next part is always pale green shoot.

spk_0 Stubborn sparrows, nesting and empty paint cans.

spk_0 Girl scouts selling cookies for clean water.

spk_0 A single pipe cleared of the ooze.

spk_0 Decades push against decades to break apart even granite.

spk_0 Meander around the immovable.

spk_0 Drops flow onto drops until there is a steady trickle that turns a deluge of hand scrubbing

spk_0 of policies galvanizing whole cliff sides of cries to bring life darting back.

spk_0 So now a heron swoops a steelhead trout.

spk_0 Its beak breaking only quiet.

spk_0 Its feathers dripping only water.

spk_0 So now the current beckons my child to slip from crooked banks.

spk_0 Float summers under the song of warblers until he is a man.

spk_0 His eyes able to read the river.

spk_0 His toes luring northern pike.

spk_0 His calves strong against the flow of whatever paints the future.

spk_0 Okay, this is my favorite transition in the whole issue because we're going from the sublime to

spk_0 the ridiculous and I love it. We have co-writers for next piece so I'm going to introduce both of them.

spk_0 Liz Brazile is a NEA 2020 creative writing fellow in the author of extinction events.

spk_0 Winner of the 2018 prairie schooner book prize for fiction.

spk_0 She holds an MFA from bowling green state university who work as appeared in best small

spk_0 fictions. Joyland Kenyon review online. Best of the net since natty review Hayden's fair review.

spk_0 Columbia review. Fans passage north and many others. Liz lives in Cleveland and works as a

spk_0 technical editor for national renewable energy laboratory. And Laura Maillain-Malter is the author

spk_0 of the novel body of stars. Her writings appeared in the Kenyon review. Poets and writers.

spk_0 The Sun, Nine Flutter, Slates, Literary Hub, The Masters review and many others.

spk_0 She has received support from Swani, Yado, Tin House, Ohio Arts Council on the Barbara Demi Memorial

spk_0 Fund, the Ohio Anil Library Association and elsewhere. She sees the Ohio Center for the book

spk_0 fellow at the Cleveland Public Library where she hosts Page Count, a literary podcast.

spk_0 And she is a big fan of the Ed Water Outfall. Please welcome Liz and Laura.

spk_0 Okay, so like Matt said, we co-wrote this piece. We wrote alternating sections. We each wrote two

spk_0 sections. So we're just going to alternate. So here we go. Betty the toilet rat emerged from the

spk_0 guest bathroom toilet as she did every night. She peered over the seat. Tiny legs perched on the slick

spk_0 porcelain below. She sniffed. What a treat. The sense of pizza night wafted through the house.

spk_0 Her kids had sent dispatches from New York about the pizza there. The fresh ingredients, the

spk_0 easily draggable slices. The populace is general resignation that made it her at paradise.

spk_0 Despite her pride and her brood success, she sighed. Of course, Betty was thrilled that they'd all

spk_0 followed their dreams of becoming pizza rats and subway rats in the big city. And of course,

spk_0 she'd been excited when she'd nuzzled them straight in their whiskers one last time and waved

spk_0 them down the great interconnected sewers. But it really made the nest quiet these days.

spk_0 Made her wonder. What else was out there? Betty jumped down, shook the remaining toilet water off

spk_0 her sleeker and proudly but quickly cleaned the white mark on her lower back. Every time she looked

spk_0 at it, she felt a rush of joy as strong as a toilet flush. Her mom had always told her the water

spk_0 droplet-shaped marking meant she was special, destined for sewer glory. With her head held high,

spk_0 Betty scurried toward the kitchen. A voice from the living room. Betty froze.

spk_0 Jeez, said the man. I thought the storm wasn't going to hit until later tonight. A distant crackle of

spk_0 thunder obscured the woman's response. But I'm sure you guys at Westerly are all over this, though.

spk_0 Betty and Shcloser reigned pattering against the windows. We won't know until it really hits.

spk_0 Oh, come on. What do I always say? You're my sewer hero. The woman laughed and Betty scurried

spk_0 into the kitchen and under the fridge, the rain disguising her soft footfalls. As she munched on a

spk_0 few scattered crumbs, her heart raced. Westerly sewer heroes. She nibbled a piece of herbie cracker.

spk_0 Imagine her, Betty, being a sewer hero. Her friend Bev had raved about Westerly before.

spk_0 The smell was delightful, she'd said. And they're doing so many amazing sewage things there.

spk_0 Could this be it? Could she make it to Westerly and be a sewer hero too?

spk_0 She contemplated this all night. She thought of her children becoming viral sensations because of

spk_0 the food they dragged around NYC, sloppy burritos as big as they were, discarded caesor salads in

spk_0 clamshells of plastic, and most famously, an open container of sagalu, from which not one grain of

spk_0 ice was spilled. She thought of Bev who told her, you're an empty nester now. It's time for you

spk_0 to find your passion. She was one year old after all, middle aged, though she couldn't quite believe it.

spk_0 If not now, when? The next morning, when the woman opened the front door, Betty took a quick galvanizing

spk_0 peak at her watered uplet spot and scrambled out from under the fridge, emerging into the drizzling

spk_0 rain, her tiny rat heart pounding. She ignored the shriek that followed her. Anyway, the woman would

spk_0 understand once she and Betty started to working together as Westerly sewer heroes.

spk_0 Betty felt like a genuine city rat as she dashed toward Detroit Avenue, taking in the smells of

spk_0 Lakewood's main drag. She paused to watch an eastbound 26 bus rumble to a stop and fling open its

spk_0 doors for an elderly man. Betty had heard tell of the wonders of the Cleveland RTA, but public

spk_0 transportation was a benefit she'd never had a chance to indulge it. Until now.

spk_0 Betty tipped toad closer as the man maneuvered a portable shopping cart onto the bus. She waited until

spk_0 the perfect moment to slip aboard undetected and then the door snapped shut behind her in the bus

spk_0 thundered to life again, surging down the street, much like freshly flush toilet water surged through

spk_0 the pipes. She was on. The bus was empty, saved for a little boy sitting near the back with his mother,

spk_0 who leaned her head against the window and appeared to be asleep.

spk_0 Hi, Rady, the boy whispered, are you hungry? Betty stepped forward, her whiskers quivering in

spk_0 anticipation as the boy held out a peanut butter cracker. She took it delicately in her front paws

spk_0 and retreated by the back door to nibble on it in peace. I like your spot, the boy said,

spk_0 and he pulled out a phone where humans given phone plans in the womb so he could take her picture.

spk_0 Betty posed showing off her marking. Her mom once said Betty's spot was shaped like

spk_0 Wally water drop, the mascot for the regional sewer district. Imagine meeting Wally one day, a rat could

spk_0 dream. The bus made rapid progress east on Detroit. They passed the YMCA, the library, and countless

spk_0 restaurants, including Taco Bell, a sentimental favorite among toilet rats. Fortunately,

spk_0 the cracker filled Betty's stomachs so she wasn't tempted to hop off the bus, not even for a cheesy

spk_0 bean and rice burrito. But then, not long after the bus crossed the border into Cleveland, she saw it,

spk_0 a toilet, a glorious gleaming white toilet sitting out on the curb. Betty pressed her paws to the

spk_0 window. What was a toilet doing out on the wilds like that? It wasn't even hooked up to anything.

spk_0 The little boy chose that moment to pull the cord that sent a loud ding through the bus,

spk_0 causing the vehicle to pull over and open its doors. Betty slipped off the bus and ran to the toilet,

spk_0 a dreadful realization slowly dawning on her. This toilet was trash. Someone would come by in a

spk_0 truck and cart it away where it would never flush again. Betty leaned against the cool

spk_0 porcelain and held a respectful moment of silence for the commode. As a single tear trickled into

spk_0 her whiskers, a shadow fell over her, the kind of shadow created by a predator. Specifically a hawk.

spk_0 She screamed as her body rocketed into the air. The hawk's claws closed around her, creating a

spk_0 terrifying cradle as she soared above the treetops. Sorry, bro, the hawk said, but I'm hungry and I skipped

spk_0 lunch. I am not your bro, Benny said, Tartley, and I do not consent to being your dinner.

spk_0 You should have thought of that before venturing out with that big white mark on your back,

spk_0 the hawk retorted. Seriously, I've seen better camouflage on a skunk.

spk_0 Betty fell silent. They were traveling north at a rapid clip, but then the hawk veered east at

spk_0 the coastline, heading for Eddwater Park. Betty couldn't believe her luck. Westerly was practically

spk_0 in Eddwater. If she could escape this beast clutches, she'd be home free. She just needed a miracle.

spk_0 As with the best kind of Cleveland miracles, Betty's came in the form of an unlikely sports victory.

spk_0 A family on the beach, upon learning that the Guardians won their away game in the playoffs,

spk_0 shot a celebratory bottle bottle rocket directly into the hawk's flight path.

spk_0 The hawk was so startled that it swirved and opened its talons dumping Betty onto the sand below.

spk_0 On the ground, Betty rolled over with a groan. Being dropped from height was no fun,

spk_0 even if she was a flexible, resilient rat, and even if the Lake Erie sand was a soft as a nest

spk_0 packed with Egyptian cotton fluff. As she lay recovering, the rain picked up again and a peel of

spk_0 thunder erupted in the distance. She needed to find shelter. Betty picked her way across the beach

spk_0 until she saw it. The Eddwater Outfall. All educated toilet rats knew about the combined sewer

spk_0 outfall, which looked like a tunnel poking right out onto the beach. This legendary piece of

spk_0 infrastructure was more than a century old, and Betty couldn't believe she was seeing in person,

spk_0 or in rat, rather. Her kids would be so proud. She squeezed through a crack in the

spk_0 Outfall's cover to check out the inside, even though she knew she was taking a risk. Despite

spk_0 improvements that drastically cut down on how often the Outfall just charged into the lake,

spk_0 the system was still overcome by heavy rain and rare cases. At any moment, a wall of water might

spk_0 come blasting through the tube, pushing open the cover and spilling across the beach and into the lake.

spk_0 But wow, it smelled so dank and moist and enticing inside. Betty curled up, wrapping her

spk_0 tail around her body for warmth, and listened to the rain pattering against the Outfall tube.

spk_0 She deserved a break. She'd rest her eyes for just a few minutes, and then she'd carry on to

spk_0 westerly. Betty was so tired from her adventures, and the Outfall so cozy that she couldn't help herself

spk_0 with images of sewers and toilets and peanut butter crackers dancing in her damp little rat head,

spk_0 she drifted to sleep. Betty awoke in a raging torrent, spinning through a dark foamy deluge,

spk_0 the wall of water had come. As she careened and spluttered, she scrambled against the slick

spk_0 surfaces of the Outfall, trying and failing to find purchase as the flood cascaded out of the

spk_0 concrete tube and onto the beach. Cold air slapped her in the face, and the sky twirled above her,

spk_0 she was pulled below against mecky against the rocky shore. Then the rocks fell away and the

spk_0 smelly tides slowed, but she was yanked under again by the surge. She struggled to write herself,

spk_0 pushing her little rat paws out against the water with all her might, propeling herself up toward

spk_0 the light. Betty broke through the surface, sputtering and gasping. She spun, treading water,

spk_0 she tried to get her bearings. She couldn't believe the strength of Outfall's current. It had blasted

spk_0 her far away from shore. Panic rose in Betty's stomach. She was a great swimmer. She was a rat

spk_0 after all, but she'd never make it all the way back to edgewater without something to grab.

spk_0 There was a splash. What are you doing out here, little guy? Betty swung around. A woman stared

spk_0 down at her, sitting a stride, a long yellow board with a slick surface. She reached forward, scooped

spk_0 Betty out of the water. There, she said, plopping her on the front of the board. The woman

spk_0 straightened, squinted in the direction of the shore. Ah, man, did you come from the Outfall?

spk_0 Crap. I shouldn't be out here. I knew I was cutting it close after that huge storm.

spk_0 The woman looked behind them and started paddling. Hang on, buddy. She leapt up in the board,

spk_0 gathered steam, Betty clung on for dear life, heart pounding, the wave pushed them forward

spk_0 faster and faster. The wind howled past Betty's ears as they coasted into the beach. The woman stood

spk_0 the water just up to her knees, home sweet home. Betty hopped off the end of the board, slightly

spk_0 dizzy, but elated. What an adventure. Her children would never believe it. And did what she'd

spk_0 seen other people doing to one another all day. She sat on her haunches and waved her paw from side

spk_0 to side. Oh my god, said the woman, and she pulled out her phone in a plastic baggie.

spk_0 Betty shook herself and cleaned off her watered-uplet marking and scrambled across the sand.

spk_0 She could smell the same toilet smell that reminded her of home. She must be close.

spk_0 She headed into the park, the grass rough against her fur, noticing it wasn't raining anymore.

spk_0 She passed a gaggle of humans walking down the path. One tall guy in a literary Cleveland T-shirt and

spk_0 glasses was saying, at the end of the day, we all had to acknowledge the first drafts are always

spk_0 going to be a big old dump. But at least it's your own crap, you know? The gaggle laughed.

spk_0 Betty made her way around the edge of the group as one of them said, is that a rat with a watered-uplet

spk_0 on its back? Betty ran through the park. Following the smell of the sewers, she could see several rounded

spk_0 domes through the trees across a marina full of boats. She was almost there. Along a

spk_0 linguaed laugh came from her right. A tabby cat slunk toward her.

spk_0 Hey, girlfriend! It said halfway between a peron and a growl. I love your look. That watered-uplet,

spk_0 gorge. Her claws glinted. Betty backed away. Binks. She squeaked. The cat hunkered down, wiggling

spk_0 its rear end, tail curling sinuously. What a treat! Betty took off, sprinted toward the boats,

spk_0 and the cat sprinted after her. Betty bobbed and weaved through the grass until she came to the

spk_0 edge of the wooden pier and launched herself onto the nearest boat, called crap-shoots. The cat followed.

spk_0 I'm just trying to be vulnerable and open about my needs. Betty jumped one more time

spk_0 onto a boat called Royal Flush. The cat yelled behind her, you know what? You're being really toxic

spk_0 right now. She stopped at the edge of the boat and watched Betty continue on her way. Betty leapt

spk_0 to the next boat, then the next one, before finally making her way to the shore. There it was,

spk_0 right in front of her, westerly. She'd done it. She'd actually done it. Once that dastardly cat was

spk_0 behind her, it wasn't even that hard. Sure, she had decided to set up a pair of candidate geese who

spk_0 acted like they owned the place, but then she was officially on the grounds of westerly. She took a

spk_0 quick therapeutic dip in one of the aeration tanks, making sure to hold onto the edge to say a float.

spk_0 The gently bubbling waters were better than a hot tub. Then she walked around the ground,

spk_0 sniffing the glorious sewage smells and observing with pride, the settling tanks, the gravity thickener

spk_0 and the centrifuges. Finally, she scampered along the perimeter of a building until she noticed a

spk_0 door propped open. With a deep brave breath, she dashed inside and raced down the hallway. She felt

spk_0 invincible. The world was her toilet. But her super sensitive rat hearing picked up,

spk_0 approaching humans. She darted through the nearest open door, which turned out to be a big mistake.

spk_0 She was trapped in a room full of teenagers who must have been there on a school trip to learn

spk_0 about the wonders of infrastructure. Rat, a girl screened, but her classmate grabbed her arm.

spk_0 That's not any rat, the friend announced. This is, that is the rat. From there, it was chaos,

spk_0 as staff descended, cornering Betty between two life-size cardboard cutouts of Wally water drop.

spk_0 Wow, it's really her set a process engineer with an outline of Lake Erie tattooed onto

spk_0 his forearm. See that marking on her back? Betty felt confused. How did they know who she was?

spk_0 Should we name her Wally, one of the teens asked? No, we already have a Wally. This rat needs her own

spk_0 identity. They had no idea how right they were. Fortunately, Betty noticed a copy of Lake Erie

spk_0 can be saved. An old Cleveland press publication authored by Environmental Reporter Betty Clarick.

spk_0 Quick as a flush, Betty darted between the engineer's legs to grab the booklet and bring it back,

spk_0 dropping it at his feet. All right, the engineer said with the chuckle, we'll call you Betty.

spk_0 Just then, a familiar face emerged in the crowd. Betty's former housemate in Lake Wood, the

spk_0 sewer hero who started it all. Betty waved before she remembered this woman wouldn't recognize her,

spk_0 as Betty typically emerged from her toilet in the dead of night. But weirdly, the woman did seem

spk_0 to know her. You're all over a tick-tock, the sewer hero said, kneeling down so she could look

spk_0 Betty in the eye. And to think, you're the same rat from my house this morning. I can hardly believe

spk_0 it. She paused, looking sheepish. Sorry, it screamed at you. A rat who rides the bus, the engineer

spk_0 broken, and serfs, and crashes poetry readings. She's a star. I am, Betty thought. She sat up a bit

spk_0 straighter. I totally am. Betty, we'd like to make you our newest mascot or rat Scott, if you will,

spk_0 said the sewer hero. You'll help educate everyone about the importance of infrastructure,

spk_0 project clean lake and the health of our waterways. We'll convert an office for you, the engineer

spk_0 explained. You'll have the softest petting, the most enriching toys, and the choices,

spk_0 slices of pizza with all your favorite toppings. Betty hardly believed her luck, and it was all

spk_0 because she ventured out of the home for the first time. She made a mental note to send dispatches

spk_0 to her kids and to Bev so they'd know where to visit her, and so they could put in their pizza

spk_0 orders. She couldn't yet imagine all the glories still to come, the press conference, the mayor

spk_0 presenting her with the key to the city, her campaigns against flushable wipes, filming PSAs with

spk_0 Wally himself, her sponsorship deal with a bidet company. For now, she was a sewer hero at Westerly,

spk_0 where she'd also gained a whole swarm of new friends. That night, as Betty bedded down in her

spk_0 office, cuddled between her organic rat treats and plush toilet toy, she couldn't stop smiling.

spk_0 Her heart, like her new nest, was finally full. Thank you.

spk_0 Hannah Srobek, are you still in sixth grade? I knew it. Seventh grade,

spk_0 poet, a nature lover whose poem, I feel distant, was featured at a visit that poet laureate,

spk_0 Adela Mone made to the Cairo Givalry National Park, and the Wuk Poetry Center summer camps.

spk_0 Hannah is the founder of the Eco Club at her elementary and middle school. She loves to combine

spk_0 her passions and create glimpses of the natural world she loves through her poetry. Everybody,

spk_0 welcome Hannah. Okay, hi, twig. I wonder what that twig would see, that one up top the old oak tree.

spk_0 A squirrel came down and said to me, that twig up on the old oak tree sees the valley as it should be.

spk_0 A lush green field that never ends, a rushing river with twists and bends, a sparkling forest,

spk_0 a light with dew, a valley that is born anew. I climbed a pie and looked down low upon the valley

spk_0 that I would sell a valley that is born anew, a peaceful place for me and you.

spk_0 Can we give it up one more time for Hannah though for that reading?

spk_0 Okay, next up is Jess Lawrence, a poet, APA-style dissertation editor,

spk_0 and winner of the Christine Cotton Award for Literature, short story. She writes, explores the world

spk_0 and gives full enthusiasm to the myriad causes she loves while striving for the perfect cherry,

spk_0 chocolate chip bred to share with her found family. Please welcome Jess.

spk_0 Thank you.

spk_0 This is Breath Soft Don'tbrook and it jumps from year to year.

spk_0 1874. He watched the ladies climb quietly into the boats, hiding his tanned hands in the pockets of

spk_0 his work pants. Somewhere in the distance, a maid was yelling in the summer heat.

spk_0 It was too hot to cook in the house, but the important men and their beautiful families

spk_0 had filled the city again, crowding around the water to enjoy its cooling edges as they paddled to the lake.

spk_0 Hems were hoisted just enough to get into a boat, but nothing indecent.

spk_0 Gloved palms were extended to capture dainty wrists while they made swishing descents.

spk_0 Down the stairs, he and his father had hewn. He wondered silently why he hadn't been allowed to see

spk_0 this before, such an intricate dance of manners and manipulation. Even the river bent to the will of

spk_0 the surrounding power, these men who radiated authority. He was contemplating it silently when he

spk_0 heard, then saw a single woman's faltering step. Quickly, the short drop into the rain swollen

spk_0 broke caught her. Before he could say a word, the muck tumbling in the undertow ensnared her layers.

spk_0 She'd been impossible to pull from the water's arms now, and there was no time to try.

spk_0 Before anyone could jump in, she disappeared under the four feet of rust stained flow.

spk_0 He was a silent witness in 1893 to the flash, quick death of a young woman no one would name.

spk_0 Later it was whispered she was a mistress, but this was not the truth. She was, in fact,

spk_0 a daughter seldom brought out into society. Rather than explain her existence in addition to the

spk_0 tragic circumstances of her death, she was simply a casualty to progress, swept beneath the growing

spk_0 city and living all his life in the memory of a stone mason's mind.

spk_0 2018

spk_0 She reached into the pool, who was early yet barely passed dawn. The quiet home of the waking

spk_0 city was growing behind her, but those green eyes were steadfast in her goal.

spk_0 Water samples marked clearly with depth and date of location.

spk_0 Collection

spk_0 Another vial, another hope. She'd been watching these eddies for years, and her documentation

spk_0 helped keep the changes coming. As she daydreamed about the possibilities, a spot tail shiner

spk_0 surface near her to capture a skimming snack. How long had that fish been growing in these flows?

spk_0 Was it alive when the cheers went out for the Cavaliers? Were it scars there before those winds?

spk_0 Before another question called her crossed her mind, she heard her co-worker calling her name.

spk_0 Time to get these to the right people she hummed under her breath. See you soon, Shiner.

spk_0 Hopefully, we save this place for your spawn.

spk_0 1932

spk_0 Sweat and frustration were high as they worked in heavy silence. Each of the men that fought for

spk_0 this job, but it was thankless work. A culvert to keep the stream where it belonged and

spk_0 rushed the filthy water away from the lush homes of the rich. A good project for keeping men employed.

spk_0 Every man knew this was backbreaking labor. Repeditive and steady, some hummed to themselves

spk_0 while others kept conversation. He liked to focus on the rocks, watching patterns emerge.

spk_0 Some bricks were lighter than others, and the limestone surrounding them had been worked by

spk_0 expert hands long before they got to this place. Was there some secret society they were members of

spk_0 now having added to this work that made it stronger? Would someone, a hundred years from now,

spk_0 kneel down on the banks and wonder about what he was doing? A canteen was offered,

spk_0 and he sipped the clean water before returning it to his friend.

spk_0 Maybe someone will imagine all the feet that stepped here before me, just as I do now.

spk_0 He wondered about that the rest of the day. That night, when his grateful wife used the

spk_0 money he'd earned to buy provisions to make the first bread they'd had in a month. He smiled

spk_0 at his children, as he thought again about the feet in the brick bed before his own.

spk_0 I wonder if they were as grateful as I am, or as happy as I, to see their own children happy and fed

spk_0 on the bread that I earned the resources to make. My job may never win an award, but I am proud of

spk_0 what I have done for these faces I love, and the bellies I keep full tonight.

spk_0 2021

spk_0 There was so much heat underground who could barely keep himself hydrated. The machine bored

spk_0 through the earth before him with precise determination. It's like we're working for the same goal

spk_0 he caught himself thinking more than once. Do you feel that satisfaction of completing the job well,

spk_0 Emory? He patted the wall of the interior affectionately. Every inch they dug together was

spk_0 another stretch closer to the final destination. His grandfather told him about the sandhogs

spk_0 of Lake Erie, and the failures that killed many of them in 1916. Emory, as he called the geared

spk_0 engine he worked every day, did the work that cost lives back then. Black man and white had fallen

spk_0 together. Bill Valiant men had dead fought desperately to save them. He contemplated the machinery

spk_0 around him. Together they safely inched through years of public works labor. They'd screamed under

spk_0 that lake and safe water now meant death before. A thought creased his brow under his coarse curls.

spk_0 That's always been the cost I guess. More people died from disease than anything else in the civil

spk_0 war. A proper sewer would have ended that in the blink of an eye, but they didn't know. His gratitude

spk_0 brought a smile to his face, but the next shift noticed. When they asked why he was grinning,

spk_0 he shrugged placidly and said, just love my job, man. I love my job.

spk_0 1637

spk_0 Dancing by the edge of the brook, she wondered what her little sister was doing.

spk_0 They were supposed to be gathering the fish their brothers had caught, but there was nothing to

spk_0 take home yet. She knew she was supposed to keep an eye on the six-year-old, but there was no

spk_0 stopping that one if she got an idea in her head. After some time, swaying in the cool autumn breeze,

spk_0 she saw her sister trotting back up the low hill from further downstream. A look of triumph on her

spk_0 bronze face revealed what the boys had not managed. A fat, striped shiner honoring its name in the way

spk_0 the sun lit it. Becrudgingly, the boys followed as they headed to their mother with their sister's

spk_0 catch in front. Few else had been successful fishing that day, so many were having meals they

spk_0 had scraped together from small game. Her father was pleased when he saw the meal before him,

spk_0 and applauded his sons for their skill, learning that it was his youngest daughters catch,

spk_0 his belly laughed filled in their hearts. My father's handsome one you laughs, she thought to herself,

spk_0 I wonder if my husband will be handsome when he laughs too. Her father seemed to read at least

spk_0 in part of her mind, as he said, it's time for you to pick your husband, my girl.

spk_0 She knew that spring would be marriage in the fire nation. A few young men had caught her eye,

spk_0 but she was wary. The warrior she'd thought she was meant to wed since she was tiny had died on

spk_0 their travels here. It was a hard life, and no one knew how kind the crown would be when the

spk_0 short days and the deep cold set in this year. Still, she would keep her eyes open for the changes

spk_0 of the season, and see which measured up to the mark in her heart from the warrior with green

spk_0 eyes who died after falling from the rocks near the lake. There would be no record of her hundreds

spk_0 of years later, but the book would remember. 2024

spk_0 There were way too many animals prowling around. It made him uncomfortable. They were trying to

spk_0 find new real estate on the dam to tag, free-handed names, declarations of love, announcements that

spk_0 enemies could in fact escape themselves. There were a lot of places claimed by varying degrees of art.

spk_0 One of his friends was improving the cherries at the top of the dam. He had to admit they

spk_0 looked better, he'd added shading, some white for shine, and just a little darker red for the illusion

spk_0 of rounded fullness. It was in fact an impressive showing, but he was burning to put his own mark on

spk_0 this place rather than add to someone else's work. I don't just want to say I was here. I want

spk_0 being here to have changed something, anything. He found his spot near the base of the dam.

spk_0 It was a slide to get there, and he had no idea how he was going to get back up. But he did it anyway.

spk_0 Digging around his duffel bag, he found the thin stream of greens he was looking for.

spk_0 When his friends watched, and he hummed, a leaf took shape, an incredibly detailed,

spk_0 alive-looking leaf. As he added shade and dimension, the leaf turned into an undulating image.

spk_0 Everyone was spillbound, watching it somehow dance with every stroke of additional paint he added.

spk_0 He hadn't looked up for approval or made any indication that he remembered he wasn't alone.

spk_0 Beneath the leaf, he quickly brought to life a small chipmunk. It wasn't cartoonish.

spk_0 He recognized that this wasn't the place for that. He done so well with the leaf he wanted to respect it.

spk_0 The dapples on the coat of the little guy protected under the curling leaf shown in the early night.

spk_0 He was painting by his phone's flashlight, but no one cared.

spk_0 He started painting rain falling on his exquisite leaf.

spk_0 When he finished, his friends applauded. The sound startled him. What the hell?

spk_0 He thought, what happened?

spk_0 When they all crowded around him to marvel at his skill, at the mark he had made, he realized that

spk_0 they had been applauding him. The girl he made in blushed every time they talked nudged him gently.

spk_0 Sign it, she said softly. Everyone should know who actually did this.

spk_0 He quickly switched his initials and tiny strokes by the chipmunks feet and admired it again.

spk_0 See there, she commanded. That picture she took became the background on her phone.

spk_0 He blushed for days when he found out.

spk_0 I can't believe she wanted my number to send it to me. Days later, he got a single text that

spk_0 upended his world. That wasn't the only reason I wanted your number. Get coffee with me tomorrow.

spk_0 Okay, our next reader is Courtney L. Black, a Cleveland-born pelletist and multi-disciplinary artist.

spk_0 Her background in cultural anthropology and sociology, theater and media fuels her passion

spk_0 for connecting people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. The American Folklor Society,

spk_0 Assembly for the Arts, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, theaters of Change, and Columbia Law School,

spk_0 Grubb Streets, Boston Writers of Color, and the National Social Science Association have all

spk_0 supported her creative ventures. Her ongoing work includes readings from her poetry collection,

spk_0 Annamalia, and St. Cofa Soul's Prize-winning project, The Nanny Project, centering the experiences

spk_0 of Black and Brown Nannies during the COVID-19 pandemic era. Please welcome Courtney.

spk_0 Hi everybody. This is so cool. We're so cool for being down here.

spk_0 This first one is untitled. To know your city, you must know what's underneath it. Keep it sacred.

spk_0 The second one is called Source. Sometimes it's the storm that fills our cups to the brim,

spk_0 as well as the dam. Treatment. Nature has its own vitamins that we can use after storms and floods.

spk_0 Treatment too. Thank all the people who work non-stop to make your water drinkable.

spk_0 Storage. Valtz that hold water are apocalypse hideouts. Aren't we so lucky?

spk_0 Use. The funny thing is Lake Erie Monster water also grows flowers.

spk_0 Use too. When you brush your teeth, thank the storm that came before who got a reaver.

spk_0 SM Hunter writes fabulous fiction from her home in Cleveland, Ohio. Her writing has appeared in

spk_0 Link Inc. She has won Cleveland's first story wars after dark competition. She was a writer and

spk_0 residence at Carrigan in June 2024 and earned an MFA in creative writing from Georgia College and

spk_0 State University. Please welcome SM Hunter. I just wanted to say thank you to literary Cleveland

spk_0 and the Northeast Ohio Regional sewer district for having us. This is by far the coolest place I've

spk_0 ever done a reading in. So thank you. Through the sewer pipe, the party was not going as Nancy had

spk_0 planned. Too many elements had fallen off her costume and now no one could tell she was supposed

spk_0 to be dressed as a mushroom. It didn't matter. He said he would come as a rotten log like a couple's

spk_0 costume, mushroom foraging. When he showed up in a Superman onesie and an excuse about running out

spk_0 of time and he didn't really know how to sew anyway, she knew it was all over. Now she was stuck

spk_0 in a polyester thrift store dress that smelled of mildew armpits and a mint lifesaver.

spk_0 Hat trampled hair fall at night ruined and just now the hem of her dress dunked in the toilet

spk_0 while she was trying to hoist her skirt. Someone knocked on the door. I chose the basement toilet

spk_0 for a reason she called out. I'll be a minute. The fluorescent bathroom light made her facelift

spk_0 green and lumpy. If there was any justice in this world, she thought she would be allowed to

spk_0 sob in this bathroom for 20 minutes undisturbed while she mourned a relationship that had barely

spk_0 happened. Instead, she was going to have five minutes tops. Before some drunk dude would scream at her

spk_0 from outside the door to pinch it off and get out. She wiped the tears that were starting to form.

spk_0 Might as well pee and leave. Then she heard a voice. Nancy, why are to thou heart broken?

spk_0 The voice warbled in a low tone like it was reverberating off the sides of a cauldron.

spk_0 She jumped up scrambled to pull up her underwear. I said I'll be out in a minute.

spk_0 Thou art overwrought. Send your secrets down to me. Nancy looked around the room for a speaker.

spk_0 The sound was coming from the toilet but that couldn't be. There had to be a hidden microphone,

spk_0 she thought. Another humiliation. She closed the lid and flushed. No! The voice was drowned out by

spk_0 water rushing down the bowl. It is I, the jakes of this manner. When the tank refilled the bowl

spk_0 and the bathroom was silent again, the voice spoke. More clearly. Oh, this lid I have sensed your

spk_0 sadness and I have sound counsel for you. Nancy had drunk three beers, not nearly enough to be

spk_0 hallucinating voices but just enough to accept a sympathetic ear when she could find one.

spk_0 I thought he was into me, she said. Every time we went hiking, I thought it was a date,

spk_0 but I think he just likes nature. She gulped hard trying to hold back the tension in her chest and

spk_0 throat. Everyone loves someone that's not me. The jakes burbled. Soft young maiden. If thou shalt follow

spk_0 my sage instruction, I will soothe say your future times and bring you solace.

spk_0 Nancy remembered enough of the 11th grade Shakespeare to understand that this talking toilet was

spk_0 willing to show her the future. Someone pounded on the bathroom door again. Sure, Mr. Toilet, show me.

spk_0 The flapper lifted, a whooshing sound surrounded her body, and Nancy felt the pressure of water and

spk_0 air and detritus of all sorts, leaves and sh- and wads of clump toilet paper swirling around her.

spk_0 Her body disappeared, skin and keratin breaking their molecular bonds and melting into the water

spk_0 and effluence. Her spirit body now separated into millions and billions of tiny pieces rushed

spk_0 through the sewers, miles and miles until it flowed with everything else to the wastewater

spk_0 treatment plan. Here's what the jakes of the man are new that she could not, until she had experienced

spk_0 it herself. The sewers seized everyone's sh- and it cleansed it up. Her heart was sivved and

spk_0 bubbled, filtered, screened, smelling of feces and wetness and earth, dismantled, sifted and

spk_0 sedimented and clarified, bit by flowing bit, became cleansed, freed back into the river and the

spk_0 leaves. And again into the basement bathroom. When Nancy emerged from the sink, soiled and smelling

spk_0 of petrocore, she felt the journey vibrating in her skin. She lifted the lid on the toilet.

spk_0 You were right, she said. The jakes did not reply, but she understood now. A line had formed

spk_0 outside the bathroom. Tuk-long enough, set the first man in line. He'd probably been the one

spk_0 pounding Nancy figured. She could tell him that dirty work took time, not until he could see it

spk_0 himself. She grasped his hand anyway, wished him luck, and went upstairs.

spk_0 All right, Ron to our last reader. Megan Milstone is a Cleveland-based author and poet who specializes

spk_0 in abstract works with emotional depth. Please welcome Megan.

spk_0 The Soul of Lake Erie. When I was a child, I read a fictional book about a character that

spk_0 insisted that water towers were god and that water above all else sustained life in ways that other

spk_0 things could only hope to accomplish. So it was made clear, water sustains, water conceives,

spk_0 water flows through us all. And if water were the all-seeing eye, would we not be reflections of

spk_0 its gaze like a drop of rain in the ocean? Give it a one more time for everybody, come on!

spk_0 A literal underground reading. Give it up for Kristian, everybody.

spk_0 Thank you all so much. We talked a lot about what is the link between the work of the

spk_0 sewer district and the work of writers. As the sewer district, we provide service to 62

spk_0 communities and we do a lot of outreach with schools and educators and the science community.

spk_0 So getting to carve out this niche and work together with artists has been so fulfilling.

spk_0 Bringing art into these tunnels is so cool. Hearing your words echo through these concrete walls

spk_0 is so special and I'm very overwhelmed and grateful for all of you to be sharing your work

spk_0 in this place. Again, thank you so much.

spk_0 Clean Waterworks is produced by the Communications and Community Relations Department at the

spk_0 Northeastern Ohio Regional Sewer District. Our music was composed and performed by G.S. Shrey.

spk_0 If you have a question or suggestion or if you'd like to learn more about the regional sewer

spk_0 district, visit neorrst.org or call 216-881-8247.

Underground Poetry with Literary Cleveland

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