SOL29: Zooming Poetry

            Yesterday  I was in my first Zoom gathering. The Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon, created and organized by the incomparable JP Howad, met on Zoom for three hours, and it was amazing. More than 60 people were online and in the room, with JP, and her experienced Zoomer, Cynthia Matick, hosting. We didn’t have the usual check-in, where we go around the table, ID ourselves, and say what kind of writing we do, because when we meet in person there are usually 15 to 25 people. But via Zoom, we could have participants who are far-flung.

            The Salon had a short workshop, in which we wrote to a prompt, then went into breakout groups to share what we wrote and speak to each other. JP also gave us a second prompt to do on our own time. Then we had three featured poets reading from their new work: Rosebud Ben-Oni, turn around, BRXGHT XYXS; Roya Marsh, dayliGht; and DaMaris Hill, A Bound Woman Is a Dangerous Thing . Their work is powerful and moving. And following the features, we had a brief open mic. All in all, it was an energizing and moving afternoon, not as good as if we’d met face to face, but way better than sitting alone in our homes.

            The first prompt was to write a autobiographical praise poem by completing each of the following lines:

first name

who is

daughter/son of

who loves

who can’t stand

who needs

who feels

who fears

who would like to see

who/how I live

last name

            Here’s what I wrote:

Sonia;

who is old (in the best sense);

daughter of Leah;

who loves her friends and family, the world, my music, books,  and dancing, and baseball;

who can’t stand my country’s “leader” who is incapable of leading;

who needs contact with other people;

who feels optimistic and pessimistic at the same time;

who fears the effects of this pandemicon everyone, every way in which all people on this earth live;

who would like to see common sense and rationality and humility and tolerance overcome fear and hate;

who lives in the moment while connecte to the the past and hopeful for the future;

Robbins

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I’m participating in the 13th annual Slice of Life Challenge over at Two Writing Teachers. This is day 29 of the 31-day challenge.  It’s not too late to make space for daily writing in a community that is encouraging, enthusiastic, and eager to read what you have to slice about.  Join in!

SOLTuesday: Poetry in the Park

            I’ve been going to a monthly poetry salon for about six years. JP Howard is the founder of Women Writers in Bloom; she invites a writer, usually a poet, to give a short workshop, read from her (usually it’s a woman) work, answer questions, and it’s all followed by an open mike.

            BryantPark, behind the New York Public Library in midtown, has hosted readings during the summer for several years now. And tonight Women Writers in Bloom presented, for the second or third year, four of its established and emerging poets. It was a beautiful evening, and each poet was stupendously better then the previous one.

            I arrived a bit early and saw several people I knew, from the salon, but also a woman from the gym. Found a seat, ate the delicious Indian food I’d gotten from the food fair over on Broadway, and absorbed the moving and inspiring poetry, and tried to ignore the sirens of multiple emergency vehicles storming down 42nd  Street. (Had something gone badly wrong somewhere? Who knows—it’s only New York City.)

Thank you, Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon

Thank you, JP Howard, and Samiya Bashir, and the Women Writers in Bloom Poetry Salon for your organizing and energy and support. I have not written anything for weeks, then today was the August Salon, and this is what came out. I will write more, and more often.

How to Connect When You Do Not Feel Connected

1. Connect  one thought to another thought.

2. Connect one thought to an action.

3. Conect one action to another action.

4. Connect yourself to yourself.

5. Connect your pain to your fear.

6. Connect your fear to what feeds it.

7. Disconnect your fear from its source.

8. Bypass your pain with a dream.

9. Chase your dream into the underbrush.

10. Track your dream with stealth and love.

11. Ambush your dream as it steals away.

12. Hide from your dream.

13. Let your dream find you.

14. Connect yourself to your dream.

15. Connect others to your dream, one by one, until you are multitudes.