09/02/2026
FIRST FRIDAY POETRY RETURNS SEPTEMBER 4th!! 🙌
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Mel Edden opens the season on September 4th
We begin the new season of poetry at the Ragged Edge on September 4th with Mel Edden. Our open mic kicks off at 7:00 PM - so feel free to bring a poem to share.
Mel Edden is a British poet based in Maryland and a 2025 Best of the Net nominee. Her poems feature in Gargoyle, The Loch Raven Review, Washington Writers Publishing House Writes, Welter, FotoSpecchio, and elsewhere. Mel runs the Manor Mill poetry reading series in Monkton, MD and edits their anthology Poets of Manor Mill. She is currently working towards her first collection. More about Mel can be found at www.meledden.com
Here is one of her poems:
Jungle Green
With guests arriving Monday I seek sheets on the top shelf.
Packed in plastic, I find bright whites saved for best.
Unfolding, I grimace at that stubborn smudge of waxy green.
You see, years before, little fingers, unseen
placed into the dryer a crayon, Jungle Green. Probably
the result of a wonderful game, origin now lost to time.
An emerald, perhaps, stashed deep in a cave? Or a princess wand
hidden from mountain trolls? Or a cookie baked in a giant’s stove?
Whatever the reason, the outcome remains: Jungle Green tossed
in my tumble machine. A permanent reminder on guest-best sheets.
At the time I cursed Crayolas and their tendency to wander,
but today I wonder: should I have savored those moments?
Houseguests come and go, but green stains linger,
like memories of princess pretend and kissable little fingers.
