I did something unusual (for me) (of late) last night.
Well, being out at night was the first bit of unusual - we will check PASSED against the "being able to drive at night" checkbox for our post cataract operation checkbox.
And even though it WAS our anniversary - the traditional gift for sixteen years (I know, that is a BIG number) is apparently NOTHING because its no longer special - V did give me the gift of going out without him last night.
Last night I went to our beautiful little local(ish) bookshop that has some lovely community events. One is the Book Club that I am part of and meets the last Sunday of the month - and another is the Budding Poets Society.
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| This image was advertising last night's poetry, not of last night's poetry. A picture of the organiser and a few enthusiasts in the bookshop. |
I used to HAUNT poetry nights. Back in the day - the day was very, VERY long ago (last century) - I could be found at a poetry afternoon or night or two per week. In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane I spent many an hour listening to poets speak their (and occasionally other) words and spoke a few myself.
Younger me even went to FESTIVALS to listen and speak.
But children - and work and life - came along and the muse took a nap. I drive a mean spreadsheet and my macros could be called poetry, but my spare time is sparse and bereft of inspirational sparks. And even were there sparks, the light and energy to capture them is so fleeting that I stopped seeking them out.
So last night, I ventured out. 'Salina is a regular at this event. She does not write poetry (yet) (she does wield a mean journal though) but has read one of mine there before (The second one in this post - I had forgotten I even went to the workshop!)
The little space was fairly full - probably up to about 20 people - and some beautiful new words being trotted out.
I only have my old work to lean on. 'Salina did "My Addiction" - a poem that used to be one of my standards and a bit of a party piece (oh, my wild days of youth when I knew how to party!!)
'Salina didn't grow up with her mother dragging her to poetry dives, and so didn't grow up with me reciting this and other things around her, so it was a clean palate that the poem landed on, and she did it justice - and hearing a poem that I know so intimately read with another's interpretation was refreshing.
Everyone got to read up to 2-3 poems, and there was a list for people to put their names down - pre- and post- intermission. Intermission was nibblies in the room we normally use for the Book Club.
On the list was was a grizzled older poet who had a full life a tales; a (very-nearly) former English teacher; a woman retrospective about life turns; someone who asked for divine guidance in a library to guide her to a book of poems (she found an absolute beauty by a refugee); a man whose health issues have forced symbiosis with poetry; a first-time reader with a lovely snapshot of a relationship end; a lady reading some classic Australian poetry; a woman who interwove some classics with her own.
I read "Drought Breaking" and "The Spinster Song" before intermission, and "Powertry", "Ode to the Dishwasher" and "Fanta Boys" after.
It was fun.
Who knows. I might even write again.
