Dodge Poetry Festival - Day 1 - Recap

As Gerald Stern progressed in his reading the rain finally came to Waterloo Village . It had been threatening during the afternoon and evening. It came down with a roar. The rain on the tent roof made it had to hear Gerald. The tent was not pitched properly in that there was not a drain system in place. The tent floor sloped down towards the stage and as the rain increased, little rivulets began to snake there way down the floor. These water snakes caused folks (like me) to pick up their backpacks or book bags, etc. from the floor and move them to either their lap or to an empty chair.   Gerald remarked at one point that he might as well keep on going, no one was going to want to leave in this rain. We agreed and he continued.   Eventually he did finish. We did make our way out of the tent into the rainy darkness and back out to find out cars in the parking lot and make our way to home or the hotel (in my case). It was a long and full day but not so surprisingly, I was not tired. I was still quite energized by the proceedings.   Recall that I had started the day with Kurtis Lamkin. He closed with "Jump Mama" and I could have quit right there, the Festival would have been worth it hearing that live, participating in that live. But oh, no, there was much more to go. Tony Hoagland, Sekou Sundiata, Lucille Clifton, Mark Doty, the duet with Kurtis and Sekou, supper and meeting up with LJ Cohen, then the evening with the music of Lori Cotler and Glen Velez, and the poetry of Ekiwah Adler Belendez,  Linda Hogan, Brian Turner, Toi Derricotte and finally Gerald Stern . What a range of words but all on a common ground. No wonder I am still energized.   But Day 1 draws to a close and I need to prepare for Day 2. The Poetry Sampler is something to look forward to and then Friday evening Sekou's band is scheduled to perform on the main stage to provide the musical interludes; that should be something special.   And more recaps to come, this after all is only Day 1!     Technorati Tags : Dodge+Poetry, poetry, poems, reflection   Powered By Qumana