POETRY TRIO TURNS WEEKLY SESSION INTO A BOOK

It all started one Thursday morning four years ago. James Patrick Wissman, Scott Moon and Janice Rigdon gathered in the basement of the Wesley Foundation at Southeast Missouri State University just to read and write poetry that inspired them.

The weekly meetings of the three -- a priest, a minister and a secretary, all of Cape Girardeau -- eventually resulted in the publishing of a book, "Poems for a Thursday Morning," which contain the poems written during the Thursday meetings.

"One of the neat things about this book is that it developed from three people who just had a love for poetry," Moon said. "Writing a book never even entered our minds when we started out."

The gatherings began when Moon read aloud his first poem at a meeting in which Wissman was in the audience. It was called "On the Eve of Destruction or We Are Fighting Jacob's Battle." The imagery is taken from the book of Genesis. Desert Storm and the threat of the New Madrid earthquake inspired the theme of the poem. Moon's poem captured Wissman's attention and soon afterwards the two were exchanging poetical verses every so often.

"I was very impressed with the poem," Wissman said. "It had been a long time since I heard an original poem read by the author."

In a few months Wissman and Moon joined with Rigdon to advertise a weekly meeting of what they called "The Live Poets' Society." Both Wissman and Rigdon had dabbled in poetry, with Rigdon having written extensively in college. The meetings began at the Wesley Foundation, then moved to the Newman Center on the Southeast campus.

"In the 1960s Newman Centers and coffee houses were supposed to be where people got together to read poetry," Wissman said. "I suggested that we should start a group like they had in the 60s, but no one wanted to until I found Scott and Jan."

For the next two years they formed the core of a poetry group that included an occasional student visitor. It was after Michelle Moon, who later served as editor, joined the group that they decided to publish a book. Wissman and Becky Rigdon provided the artwork, and they chose Napsac Reproductions of Marble Hill to print the book.

"We decided to publish the books and do all the necessary work for publishing ourselves," Moon said. "There are a lot of things that go into making a marketable book."

The authors then sent the books to libraries and book stores around the area. It was also sent to theological scholars for critical review.

The book contains 135 poems. Some have Christian undertones; others are about subjects as varied as baseball and Thanksgiving. Many types of poetry are represented in the book, including limericks and sonnets.

"The book's success comes from its necessary mix," Moon said. "We have three very different styles and approaches to poetry."

The group continues to meet throughout the fall and spring semesters at the Newman Center, but bases its meeting times on the schedules of the members.

All three authors will hold a book signing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 25 at Sibley's Book Store, 33 N. Main.