Stephen Hartsfield
C
By Kelsey Wilhoite
alhoun County’s own Stephen
Hartsfield featured at historic
poetry reading in New Orleans.
Hartsfield was selected for a feature
reading at The Maple Leaf Bar, the longest
continuously running poetry reading in
North America. He performed on June 2.
“They respect the material enough that
they’re willing to let me come read,”
Hartsfield says of the honor. “It makes me
feel good.”
There is a dream. A perception, really.
And it is mine. Freely given to all who ask.
Sometimes
taken and reclaimed like a long lost and
much sought after baseball card. It is simple
really. An idea
that is not mine alone, but needs helping
hands to be brought to fruition. To sing a
song, The song,
the melody of life accented by the harmony
of death, to float upon the music and play
my note in
the symphony, subtle yet unmistakable.
Perhaps instead, I am a rest.
Excerpt from “There is a dream” By:
Stephen Hartsfiled
10
Hartsfield released his latest book of
poetry, Sometimes Behind, in April.
Sometimes Behind is available on Amazon,
along with Hartsfield’s other books:
Yardbird: A Collection, So Am I: Poetry, and
Life In This Direction: Essays.
Yardbird: A Collection is a book of fiction
which, as Hartsfield explains, might take
you by surprise. “The collection of fiction
is just a handful of three to five page short
stories and then a novella at the end of it
entitled Yardbird, which is about a ghost
chicken. I mean it sounds more humorous
than it is. It’s a dark tale.”
SHOP
Hartsfield graduated from Alexandria
High School and attended Auburn
University. He has been published in The
Auburn Circle, the literary magazine at the
university and in Kudzu House: Literature
of an Invasive Species.
Like other creative types, Hartsfield’s
talents extend to other forms of art. He
also plays music and writes songs, several
of which were recorded by the bluegrass
group Grass It Up, based in Colorado
Springs. ✽
June 2019
INSIGHT