Open Mic Highlights
One might have thought that April’s Spoken Word would bring seasonal poems about spring, Earth Day, or even taxes. But what we got included a letter from Julius Caesar, some frolicking ferrets, a dead orange, and an adaptation of The Raven involving an appendectomy (quote the surgeon nevermore). Although, Neva Brown did return to the Café del Sol stage, reading a short story from her book with a side line theme of forest clear cutting, and I read my inch worth of poetic praise for forsythia.
We all rubbed our hands together and reported the results as Greg led us in an audience participation demonstration of a martial arts exercise designed to feel energy before reading his poetry. Gloria asked rhetorically, ‘aren’t all my poems about death, really?’ before sharing hers.
One of the evening’s highlights was a performance piece delivered by two members of the Floyd High School Forensics team, Bedelia Burris-McGrath and Kaya Norton (pictured). It was a poignant and tightly delivered dramatic scene from a play about Alice on LSD and her alter ego/witness, a talking stuffed rabbit from her childhood. Bedelia returned to the stage later to be a back up dancer (a jig in this case) for a friend who sang an Irish song. “If anyone has the urge to sing along, they can leave right now,” the singer joked.
Another highlight was when Mara (second from right) led an impromptu group in an adaptation of a creative writing class exercise called The Stereotype Poets’ Hall of Fame. She enlisted a stellar line-up of other readers who convincingly played the parts of Classic Poet, Beat Poet, Gothic Poet, Angry Poet, Secret Poet, Hip-Hop Poet, and Professor Poet.
A David Bowie song, the expansive shores of a king sized bed, and the image of young men swimming still linger. I left at 10:00 with readings still going on, so who knows what happened next.
Post notes: That’s Stephania reading a comical short story about ferrets. For more pictures and narrative on Floyd’s Third Saturday Spoken Word Night, click HERE and scroll down.
April 19th, 2009 1:16 pm
From now on, whenever anyone wants to learn the definition of the word “community”, I’m going to send them here and first have them read this particular entry before setting them loose throughout your entire blog.
You manage to capture the richness of a moment, through words and images, better than almost anyone I know. Wish I could have been there. Truly.
Hi from Tanya’s today. I’m now inspired to head out and enjoy this glorious Sunday.
April 19th, 2009 3:57 pm
Nah, you guys are too original for conventional “poetic” themes! I have GOT to get over there one of these days!
April 19th, 2009 5:00 pm
You are a community!!
I love the way you save some of your blog entries as themes to see how many you have. xo
April 19th, 2009 5:37 pm
The people in your area of the country never cease to amaze me.
April 19th, 2009 10:12 pm
I’m in the wrong neighborhood. I want to go to that open mic night. I will have to plan a trip to Floyd next time we go away and see it all for myself. It’s so enticing!
April 19th, 2009 11:45 pm
You all have such a great time at ALL the functions that go on…Open Mic seems to be getting more and more pophlar, or am I just inahining that?
Thanks for your comment Colleen….I loved what you said about our “attractions”…I think you are so right…If one takes the time to trace them back—it’s all there!
Also loved you saying that “…it looked enough to eat…at a wedding…” LOL! And it does, though I never thought of that!
April 20th, 2009 3:52 am
is anyone in floyd even a tiny bit shy?!
what a group of fun-loving folks.
April 20th, 2009 11:00 am
Dead Oranges sounds like a name for a rock band. 🙂
April 20th, 2009 11:03 am
Oops, make that just one Orange. I must be really hungry or something.