I like the way it’s moving

I looked around the room at SPEAK tonight, listening to 15 people read their poetry and the poetry of others — not the poetry of slammers, but of other people from Dickinson to Cavafy to Bukowski (the first Buk poem I ever recall liking, by the way) to Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Themes developed as people read poems about the mortality of their parents and folding clothes (yes, images about clothes folding popped up here and there). There was a dynamite retelling/remix of the tale of Sisyphus, and a strange religious poem about wingless birds. (Those of you who follow the cast of characters of SPEAK can probably guess who read that.)

I heard great poetry. I heard people working through poetry in progress and asking for suggestions. There was laughter and all sorts of mayhem, too. And a lot of silence as people read.

This is what I wanted, what I thought of after we reorganized when the Cafe closed. A quieter, focused place of people sharing their work with no sense of show or artifice. A reading in a town of 12,000 people that aims to allow people from town and beyond a place to do what they love with no pressure.

Jeanne, one of the locals, told me that she does taxes for a living and she couldn’t wait to get to SPEAK tonight because “it makes her feel human again.”

Yes.

And now…in the next town over, smaller than this one…another reading has started on the alternate Wednesdays from us, once a month…

That’s what I want. Make culture and its energy happen ELSEWHERE, in places other than the big cities and urban areas. I think they need it more, in the long run; these are the places people leave to go get this stuff elsewhere.

When I was a kid, there was no access to the things I wanted to do in town. This is what I wanted to do.

Thanks to all the SPEAKers who were there tonight, and every time we meet; we are the point of what this word business is about.

Changing the world doesn’t always require a loud revolution.

About Tony Brown

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A poet with a history in slam, lots of publications; my personal poetry and a little bit of daily life and opinions. Read the page called "About..." for the details. View all posts by Tony Brown

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