On Monday, February 22, I had a feature at Stone Soup.
I was part of a group of five African American women.It was a lovely evening of poetry.The differences in style were
vast, yet we all formed a group with the common denominator of powerful work. I was struck by the amount of
history in the women’s work. I felt like a traveler, moving with them, their ideas and words, being a child, seeing and feeling. Truly beautiful.
For my feature, my friend Seth Itzkan played the upright bass.We practiced quite a bit beforehand and our performance Monday evening went so well.I was extremely relaxed—that is one of the perks to performing with someone. A lot of the pressure is taken off you, because you know you will not be the only face the audience will see. I felt the poems, that night. Got inside them. The writing part of the poem was over; instead what took forefront was the presenting of the poem. Like
an actress with a monologue, each poem has its own rhythm and character. I was able to deliver Monday night—almost as
strongly as I imaged! A perfectionist to the end…
Saturday afternoon I read for A Centry of Voices in honor of Black History month in the Brookline Village Library. Again I was honored to read with a selection of wonderful poets such as: Bridgit Brown, Charles Coe, Mignon Ariel King, January
O’Neill and Lolita Paiewonsky. Both events were arranged and hosted by Mignon Ariel King who worked tirelessly and did such a beautiful job. What is exciting is being around poets who are moved by poetry and enthusiastic about it.We all had different styles, and that is very heart quickening too because it reminds you that there is so much about poetry—ways of writing and thinking—that one has learn. Always.
vast, yet we all formed a group with the common denominator of powerful work. I was struck by the amount of
history in the women’s work. I felt like a traveler, moving with them, their ideas and words, being a child, seeing and feeling. Truly beautiful.
For my feature, my friend Seth Itzkan played the upright bass.We practiced quite a bit beforehand and our performance Monday evening went so well.I was extremely relaxed—that is one of the perks to performing with someone. A lot of the pressure is taken off you, because you know you will not be the only face the audience will see. I felt the poems, that night. Got inside them. The writing part of the poem was over; instead what took forefront was the presenting of the poem. Like
an actress with a monologue, each poem has its own rhythm and character. I was able to deliver Monday night—almost as
strongly as I imaged! A perfectionist to the end…
Saturday afternoon I read for A Centry of Voices in honor of Black History month in the Brookline Village Library. Again I was honored to read with a selection of wonderful poets such as: Bridgit Brown, Charles Coe, Mignon Ariel King, January
O’Neill and Lolita Paiewonsky. Both events were arranged and hosted by Mignon Ariel King who worked tirelessly and did such a beautiful job. What is exciting is being around poets who are moved by poetry and enthusiastic about it.We all had different styles, and that is very heart quickening too because it reminds you that there is so much about poetry—ways of writing and thinking—that one has learn. Always.
