My First Poetry Event

A LOT LESS PAINFUL THAN I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT
A Review of My First Poetry Event

Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker

I’m not a poetry guy. Yeah, I’ve written poetry, yeah, I’ve read it and yeah, I’ve got plentiful friends who do this stuff. But it’s not me.

After numerous (far too many to count) invitations to poetry events and poetry slams I broke down and went. It was local, it was promoted on my writers group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/writercircle/) and it was being organized by good friend Linda of www.cavalcadeofpoetry.com. Blatant promotion mode off. Also having been ill and down and out for quite some time I wanted to see some good friends I had neglected for some time.

Poetry makes me think of two things: puppies and rainbows, and shock and politics. Knowing my darker inclinations one might guess which one I enjoy more. I was hoping it would more the latter than the former.

The venue, Port City Java in Deptford New Jersey, is quite nice in comparison to a lot of coffee shops I’ve been in. It has the familiar stuff; the coffee bar, the pastries, the tables and such. It also has a gift shop with candles and chocolate – and in the back where the event was to take place, a large open room adorned by the wonderful art of So Young whose oil and acrylic mastery of young ladies and flowers is amazing.

I arrived late and was greeted by dear friends; Sharona, Jim, Lisa and Linda, who coincidentally make up the local vocal center of Writer Circle. Checking out the rest of the folks there I was relieved to find no aging beatniks snapping their fingers. Cliched I know but it was a fear. These were normal people interested in sharing creativity – exactly the reason I was there.

Linda, Sharona and Jim all did wonderful readings as did a young man named Steve Paul who was truly amazing. I hope to see more of his work. Having had such a good time this past Sunday I believe I’ll be attending on a weekly basis. It was a lot less painful than I thought it would be – it was actually very cool.