Some days rivers run; others, they dry up and go to bed. Rivers wind and meander, flood and flow. Rivers wash against and carry with them enough organisms to be alive themselves.

Perhaps, then, a river isn’t so unlike poetry. Local poet and literary organizer Alice Miller sure thinks so.

Over the summer, Miller’s been hosting a suite of poetry-focused recitations and readings at Tesseract Books he’s dubbed “The Poem River Series” — inspired both by the wisdom of renowned poet Mary Oliver, as well as Miller’s own affinity with the Little Miami.

With two more events planned for his series, Miller invites all would-be wordsmiths and lovers of language to listen and participate in all of the “unedited, messy, rough edges” of live poetry.

Coming up on Thursday, Aug. 27, at Tesseract Books, is a joint reading by local poets Artie Isaac and Cheryl Smith. Then, on Thursday, Sept. 10, an open-invitation recital and performance of poems.

Both events in Miller’s continuation of his “Poem River Series” are free and open to the public, as are most other literary events at Tesseract — the next of which is a “meet the illustrator” with Yellow Springs-based children’s book artist Anna Mullin on Sunday, July 19, at 2 p.m.

“I want these spaces to be a chance to experience performance,” Miller said of his series, in an interview with the News earlier this month. “Reciting a poem and hearing that poem is like an act of devotion to one another. It’s such a gift when someone is a strong performer.”

Not quite unlike a sizable fish pulling on a line, Miller pointed out.

“So, come out and catch one,” he said with a chuckle.

The most recent poems he’s reeled in at the Poem River Series came from Yellow Springs-raised and Antioch alumna Emma Loomis-Amrhein, who returned to the village last week, on July 9, to read at Tesseract Books selections from her debut collection of poems in “evening primroses.”

Miller said his discovery of Loomis-Amrhein’s poems a few years ago was an eye-opening moment for him: “I was just so happy to know that there was poetry so close to home,” he said. “How cool it is to be connected to a place, and I’m always interested in figuring out who my contemporaries are.”

Galvanized by that interest and given the chance by his employer at Tesseract Books, Kathy Engisch, Miller launched his series in May, hoping to commune with other local poets also seeking a literary community. The mouth of the summer’s river opened in May with a recitation — with Miller inviting all interested to memorize or read aloud an impactful poem.

He continued the following month on June 11 with an open mic. Attendance for that one came close to breaking the bookstore’s record — Miller’s pool had grown to 25 poets in one room, he said.

“Open mics are hard,” he conceded. “For attendees, you can get a lot of emotional stuff that, maybe, might be too heavy for what you’re looking for at the moment. At other moments, you’re hearing someone read something that’s never been edited and can be tough to take in. But that’s the point! Poetry helps us manage our feelings!”

Those looking to dive in are welcome Aug. 27 and Sept. 10 for the next installments of Miller’s series.

For more information on the upcoming literary events, go to tesseractbooks.com or the store’s Facebook page, or call 937-230-2058. Tesseract Books, located at 232 Xenia Ave. is open Tuesday–Sunday.

Contact: rdixon@ysnews.com