Gary Duehr and Jacqueline Pope brought a Christmas gift to the Toast Lounge in Union Square, Somerville. It was their gift of well-crafted and thoughtful poetry to the audience at the Somerville News@Toast  Poetry Series.

Jacqueline Pope, whose husband, poet Don Share, read at an earlier “Toast” reading, is a freelance editor at Houghton Mifflin, and will have a book out this fall by the Marsh Hawk Press: “Watermark.” The book deals with her experiences as a bookseller in Amsterdam.

Throughout this collection Pope displays expressive imagery using books, architecture, and the very water that surrounds the city, as a focal point.

Pope, who is a new mother, said that since the birth of her child she has experimented more with rhyme in her poetry. She has a very sedate reading style, and quietly won the audience over with her evocative lyricism. In one piece she brought the wind and water into a sort of dialogue. Water acts as a tributary or conduit for many of the themes that Pope weaves in her work.

As usual the crowd was a serious one, listening intently to the poets and their presentations. Poet Natasha Schneider from Hyde Park was in the audience, and she commented on the Series: “It is an intimate space–a mixed crowd in terms of interest. There is good diversity. It has a comfortable and supportive environment.”

Long-time Somerville resident and poet Gary Duehr was the next to read. Duehr said that he has lived in Somerville since 1984. “I don’t know anywhere else that I would rather live.”

He was impressed with the atmosphere of the “Toast Lounge“, saying it reminded him of a coffeehouse scene.

Duehr read from his collection “potato chips for dinner.” This collection is based on a newspaper account of a spill of chips on a highway near Boston. Duehr said such random events could possibly break the routine of one’s life, and perhaps even change it. This turns out to be the conceit of his book of poetry

Duehr read the intriguing title poem as well as a take-off on the “Brady Bunch,” theme song to describe his less than “Brady”-like real family. He also had an amusing piece about talk show host Sally Jesse Raphael, and an imaginary program that she produced: “Saved by a Hairdo.”

As always there was an open mic to follow the features. This evening Janet Cormier, Natasha Schneider, and Harris Gardner, not to mention yours truly, took the stage.

At various points during the reading local chanteuse Chiemi sang her evocative songs, which were a perfect compliment to the poetry. The next event at “Toast” will feature poets Rich Wilhelm and James DeCrescentis, January 7, 2005.