Instead of having talent, I have cultivated friendships with talented people. This is not as easy as you might think.
But I figure I might as well spend a minute today to mention one of my many talented friends and let you all know that she's going to be performing next Thursday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. at Richard Hugo House in Seattle.
She (Nicole Hardy by name) has been selected to participate in a tribute to famous dead poets that is part of the larger celebration of National Poetry Month. You are excused if you didn't know that April, in addition to being the cruellest month, is National Poetry Month. But now that you know, don't you forget it. To take part, all you have to do is write or read a poem a day this month, and buy a ticket (they're cheap) to next Thursday's event, which I promise will be fabulous. Note: it is easier to read a poem a day than to write one. You can also fulfill the requirement by spending ten minutes a day doing rhyme-y conversation with a loved one. It's super easy and kind of fun. One person starts, making a statement that ends with a word that will serve as the one all subsquent statements have to rhyme with. For example, if I say "I say like sitting in the sun," you say something like "I can think of better ways to have fun", to which I might reply "It better not involve a gun".... Etc.
So back to NICOLE HARDY, poetess extraordinaire.
Next Thursday, April 15, at Hugo House, she (along with local poets Peter Pereira, Matt Gano and Jourdan Keith) will be doing readings of a famous dead poet, Anne Sexton. Her fellow poets will be doing Richard Brautigan, Audre Lorde and Frank O’Hara. If you have never heard of them, don't worry. Poetry begins in wonder. Actually, philosophy begins in wonder, according to Descartes, but never mind. Poetry is like philosophy, but couched in even more cryptic statements. And I mean that in a good way.
Here's how the upcoming event works:
For Dead Poets Society, each living poet will portray a dead poet from the canon and read his or her work; it will be part costume party, part poetry reading. As an extra wrinkle—since Hugo House’s mission is to support new work, all of the poets will write one original poem in the vein of, inspired by or in response to a work or the life of their selected writer.
Tickets for Dead Poets Society are $10 ($6 for Hugo House members, seniors and students) and are on sale now through brownpapertickets.com.
This is truly an opportunity to enjoy an evening of culture and fun for the price of an entrée at Circa in West Seattle, where Nicole works and also gathers some of the material for her fabulous poems.
Soyez nombreux!
