Open Poetry Reading at 222

Poetry is an art dish best served up spoken aloud.  "Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen," as best described by Leonardo da Vinci. The free poetry program welcoming orators of their poems was held last evening at the 222 in Healdsburg.  The evening was hosted by Rev. Sally Hubbell of the Rector of St. Paul's Church.  Rev. Sally is also the Community  Prog. Dir. for the 222. She began the evening on a somber note. She said poetry exacts something from her in ways that many things don't do and then quoted Emily Dickinson, "It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there."  The Rev. said what many of us are feeling from the news today is oppressive and requires her to step away at times.  I concurred and considered listening to poetry recited as a means to elevate my spirit on a rather cold Sunday evening.  Rev. Sally encouraged those reciting to offer an explanation as to what inspired their poems.  The disparate participants ranged in ages from 15-85. Both men and women were equally represented. The Rev. sought unifying themes in subject matter of the poems which really didn't matter.  What mattered most for me was the gift of sharing proffered by the poets.  As Dylan Thomas wrote, "A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it.  A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him." A few poems read actually took my breath away. One lovely woman with long blonde hair and knee high black boots said this was her first time reading her poetry in front of an audience. I surmised her to be an aspiring actress. She urged us, "feel for a pulse in the stars around you. Do things that don't cost money. Read poetry, write anything." This reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut's quote, "Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something." An 84 year old aspiring poet told us she had suppressed her creativity and is now feeling "surprise and courage again".  Her poem was entitled "Leap of faith." My favorite poem was by Jacquelyn Wells, a gifted playwright who was "taking a stab at poetry". Her poem she named "November" struck a chord in me. She called the month, "Nasty as a bear roused from slumber".  I was hypnotized by her personification of Nov.  I am paraphrasing from her verse, ."..Nov. has shards of strong fingers and dances on the moon. Nov.is a solitary guy searching for secrets in the rocks."  A 15 year old male eagerly shared his poetry. He explained it was from a school assignment.  A male reader donning a Santa hat read his rhyming poems which were eulogies for his mom, dad and cousin drunken toasts heralded at wakes.  Another gentleman wrote a poem after the Israeli/Hamas war and hearing the repeated chant, "I stand with Israel". His poem resounded with proselytizing. "I stand with dignity...pleading with humanity," but his  line, "buried by the same earth" resonated.  The next reader was a young woman whose poetry came from the conflicts between her and her mother. "I'm going to forgive you until my heart has a shiner." Her poetry would've won a slam poetry contest.  A very clever and biting poem talked about pretentious diners, "I pick cilantro from my teeth to the annoyance of manicured man."   I applaud all the participants for their creativity and generosity.  "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find how far one can go."  T.S. Elliott  There will be a Prose Reading Event at The 222 on Feb. 25th and I will be there to listen and perhaps to share.