4 Against the Wall & Praise to Lynn
tea is on the table, honey in the pot
bread and butter
even the radio wants
to be my friend …
– Ruelaine Stokes
There was a lot going on that could have made our book signing/ release party a disaster — snow, snow, snow were the top three on the list. December in Michigan is, at best, dicey. By 7 o'clock we were in the middle of a blizzard. However, last night was a blast; a whole lot of fun!
Ruelaine Stokes, Robert Rentchler and myself sat on tall stools in the front of the gallery and passed the microphone around. I am only glad Sam was safe at home in Detroit in so much as he wasn't unsafe in a ditch on the side of the road outside Ann Arbor. We missed him, though we each took turns performing one of his poems to start off the reading.
One of the people in the audience was Lynn Hershberger, of colorjoy! blog fame; master knitter and one half of The Fabulous Heftones. Imagine my surprise and joy when I found this morning that she had actually written a review of the reading on her blog! (as they say on Wayne's World: not worthy, not worthy) Here is a little snippet:
I wish you could hear their voices. Because, really, poetry is about sound. You can read a poem, eyes alone, from a page in a book. However, to make a poem truly sing, someone must read it aloud.
My favorite poetry performer of all time is Ruelaine Stokes. She can read her own poetry, or anyone else's (I love it when she reads Rumi), and make it take on such life that it almost has a flavor.
Walt Whitman said that to have great poetry readings you need great audiences (or something along those lines). The fact that the reading was a success at all was due in large part because of the family and friends who turned out to support us. I thank you all for making last night such a fun time. I thank you.