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October 13, 2005
Finally, a poetry slam I can get behind
Let's get one thing straight: I love poetry. I love the fact that words placed together side by side in just the right way suddenly become more than a sentence, more than the idea or event they represent... they become Art. Take Edna St. Vincent Millay, for example. She's one of my favorites.
O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!
Thy mists, that roll and rise!
Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag
To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!
(God's World)
Have you ever felt that way about something? Or someone? That you just can't get close enough to it? That you just want to say how amazing it is, but you can't put the words together -- at all, let alone beautifully? That's where Edna comes in.
Now, with all that said -- I hate poetry slams. They are so fucking boring and full of bad poetry and the subjects of said poetry are ALWAYS about how there's no peace without justice or how the world has beat the poet down or how badly it sucks to pay rent and try to make a living selling handmade wire sculpture at Fisherman's Wharf. Oh, and 80-90% of all those reciting are SCREAMING because they are ANGRY. Now all those things are well and good, but why can't angry people just dance instead?
But, I have found a poetry slam/art event I can really get behind. I work on Thursday nights until around 10, and usually come up to the 16th & Mission BART station at just after 10. Every Thursday without fail, I witness what is clearly an ad hoc group of spoken-word artists (ugh), musicians, freaks, dancers, and rappers doing what comes naturally. Having lived at a VERY loud corner in North Beach for years, I can imagine that if my apartment were within earshot of this weekly event, I might not find it so cool, but it's not and so I do.
I discovered today that this event is loosely organized by a group called The Collaborative Arts Insurgency, which is oh so very Mission, especially the "Insurgency" part. I stop sometimes to hear a little bit, and sometimes it's good stuff. More often it sucks and I get on my way, but I still love that I live in a place where this kind of thing can happen. I have as much in common with the Collaborative Arts Insurgency as a banana does with an orange, but it's still such a magical thing to come upon unexpectedly.
I guess what I'm saying is... I don't mind poetry slams as long as I can haul my ass out of there if it sucks. Is that so wrong?
* Speaking of E St.V M, you have to love a poet who can write this:
I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
(Afternoon on a Hill)
And then turn around and write this:
Sorrow like a ceaseless rain
Beats upon my heart.
People twist and scream in pain, --
Dawn will find them still again;
This has neither wax nor wane,
Neither stop nor start.
(Sorrow)
Whoa. Bi-polar much, Edna? Today she'd be Prozac'd into a stupor and would probably spend endless hours watching Lifetime: Television for Women.
Posted by kyle at October 13, 2005 12:52 PM