Last night, a surprisingly satisfying reading by Rodney Jones and Ellen Bryant Voigt at the Library of Congress. Rodney read some funny poems, and one about the art of criticizing art that really stayed with me. Another one about dumping one's sublime coconut drink into the ocean...then trying to reclaim it.
Though the Virginia Festival of the Book beckons, my father's 60th birthday (!) is a far more important thing, and keeping me here in DC. So I'm taking a break from poet-ing for a few days. Call it a calm before the storm of April. Are you NaPoWriMo-ing?
Instead, this will be a weekend of theater: Kiss of the Spider Woman and a special version of Macbeth, co-directed by Teller. That's Teller of "Penn & Teller," so I look forward to floating daggers and blood spots that magically appear and disappear before our eyes. It's also the height of cherry blossom season here in DC...and the Smithsonian Kite Festival will be taking place down on the Mall, near the Washington Monument. Some days I love this city.
[[Above - "Cherry Blossoms" is a polaroid transfer by local artist Gia Regan.]]
Just curious: why was the Voigt/Jones reading *surprisingly* satisfying?
ReplyDeleteThere are some local series that I go to consistently, on principle, without expectation attached to the particular poets. I didn't go to this reading because it was Rodney Jones and Ellen Bryant Voigt; I went because it's an LOC reading, and I think it's important to show support for those working to bring poetry to DC.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I really liked the work I heard. I was engaged; I laughed out loud; I found someone new to follow in journals. After a long workday at my desk job, anything that refreshing is a "surprise."
= )
Thanks for elucidating. I first heard Voigt probably 30 years ago, and have always liked her. Rodney Jones is a more recent enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteI find I usually get something even out of attending "bad" readings. Not that there haven't been many down the years that I've hated!
hey, do you think gia would let me use this image for 4sq? it's lovely. do you have her contact info?
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