Warming up for Poetry Month

Going into my final year as poet laureate, I am finally understanding that the year (and my poetry activities) seems to travel in a 5 month sine wave, with crests in March/April and October/November. All of a sudden, I find myself with a number of requests for readings, poems, workshops, appearances...and always, talks. And reading. I do enjoy doing it all, but the periodic nature of the requests makes it hard to plan.

Coming up on the horizon is Literacy Day at Hammond Middle School, quickly followed by the Hollin Hall Senior Center, and then the Alexandria Office on Women Awards Banquet. I just finished the Charles Houston Rec Center dedication, and recently received a request from another senior citizen poetry group. I've also been looking at the possibility of introducing Alexandria to New York's Poem-in-your-Pocket Day, to be celebrated in April. Or trying to get local poets to record podcasts for the city's website...Or celebrating Jean Elliot's poetry at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House sometime during Poetry Month. So many possibilities, so little time...

Charles Houston

One of the best things about my quasi-job as poet laureate is the places it takes me. I was recently asked to write a poem for the opening of Alexandria's newly- rebuilt Charles Houston Recreation Center. I was particularly happy to be asked, as I have watched the old center torn down and the new one constructed. It's on one of my customary routes around town, and I have repeatedly remarked on how rapidly it's been going and what a nice building it appeared to be. 

The truth is that, without that invitation, I probably would never have set foot in the building. Recreation? Moi? BUT, writing for the opening not only got me inside, but also made me do a little research on the building's namesake--and I am richer for the experience. Charles Houston was an amazing guy, and I learned a lot. Brilliant pupil of Felix Frankfurter. Teacher of Thurgood Marshall (and author of the brief used in Brown vs. Board of Education). Dean of Howard University Law School. He has a building at Harvard named after him. And a professorship there. He gathered a team of lawyers that brought down the Jim Crow laws. He was the go-to guy in civil rights law from World War 1 until the 1950s. And he worked here in Alexandria as well, helping to bring about the first African-American high school in the city. Wow. (And BTW, where was all this in my kids' history books?)

The building itself is wonderful, and well-worth a tour. An added highlight was that I also got to hear Mayor Euille's State of the City address. I normally would not have dragged myself over to city hall at 8:30 AM on a Saturday to hear it, but I'm glad it was incorporated into the ceremonies at the rec center this year. It's good to know what we've accomplished and where we stand, and I suspect I will try to catch this important address from now on.

I guess the moral of all this is that there are more opportunities to learn out there than we could ever conceive of...if we only made the effort, um...let's be specific here... if I only made the effort.

(BTW, here's the poem...)

Building

New buildings start with tearing down,

With structures being brought to earth,

With land swept clean of all that hinders progress:

Digging deep and building strong

Brick by brick and stone by stone,

We make foundations that endure.

Charles Houston was a builder

Who wrestled with injustice,

Who tore down restrictive laws,

Who swept clean the field of opportunity;

Digging deep and building strong--

Brick by legal brick, stone by hard-won stone,

He built foundations for the future.

This building, his namesake,

Borne of hope and strength,

Honors him...and this community.

His values, rooted deep, maintained so strong,

Brick on remembering brick, stone on history's stone,

Are the foundation that endures.

(February, 2009)

Occasional Poetry

Elizabeth Alexander took a lot of flak for her inaugural poem last week, and she has my sympathy. It's hard enough to be a poet, but to write a poem for an occasion...and beyond that, for an occasion of the historic proportions of this one..well, the pressure was on. She chose to write a prose poem, a genre that may not seem to be authentic poetry to the vast majority of her audience, as well.  A brave woman, in more ways than one.

I try not to critique other people's poems. Everyone has his or her own style and preferences. Everyone has a message and a way of delivering it that I may or may not understand. Just as in visual art, there are some artists that speak to me and others that don't. I'd like to think, however, that I can see value in their viewpoints--as should we all.

The occasional artist has a more difficult role, I think, than most. First, the subject is already defined--at least in a general sense. Most events have complete backstories, as well, and the poet, artist, musician, composer is expected to incorporate some of that history into his or her work. In a very real sense, a work created for an occasion must incorporate past, present and future; must be brief to accommodate the program; must be memorable in order to live up to the import of the event; and be able to stand alone, as it will no doubt be reproduced outside the realm of the event. This type of work must pass muster, as well, in a variety of venues. It must appeal to the average listener, as well as to the more demanding critics who will dissect it (and the artist) at their leisure. Finally, the artist must be capable of delivering the work on a very specific, incontrovertible deadline (sometimes with very limited notice), and must be able to perform it adequately for a substantial audience--whether or not she or he possesses the requisite skills in public speaking or performance.

For better or worse, and with varying degrees of success, I've faced the same sort of issues as poet laureate, albeit in much smaller venues.  Occasional poetry is not for the faint of heart, and--at least in my opinion-- Elizabeth Alexander proved herself worthy of the honor accorded her.

"City of Songs" in City Hall

Update: my poem "City of Songs" has been hung in City Hall. I visited it this morning, and it is hanging right where the line starts for parking permits (on the left side of the back lobby, as you face the information desk.) In any case, none of my visiting friends or relations will be allowed to walk down King Street without being dragged across Market Square to see my piece of immortality. Consider yourselves warned.

First Anniversary

Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 10, is a sort of anniversary for me. Tomorrow marks my second appearance before the Alexandria City Council--my first since my official appointment as the City of Alexandria's Poet Laureate at a meeting last year. At that first meeting, I was competing for attention with the Recycling Squirrel from the local elementary school. This time, I've hesitated to look up who else shares the agenda. All I know is that I am #7, and there is a proclamation marking the first anniversary of my appointment.

Some might ask what I have done in the intervening months. In fact, if I were to tabulate the questions I've received since becoming the Poet Laureate, that question would top the list: what does a poet laureate do?

Initially, the office received a lot of attention. I was interviewed (TWICE!!) by the Washington Post, and also by local newspapers like The Gazette-Packet, and the local cable TV show, Maturity. I've appeared occasionally in articles and letters to the editor, with subscribers and/or reporters urging other communities to initiate similar positions. We are currently a small and select group, we poets laureate. Only about ten cities actually have us on their books.

But, setting fame aside, what I have been doing mostly is writing and reading poetry. There are apparently many groups out there who espouse the writing of poetry as a pastime. Of course, there are the schools, where that encouragement comes from the curriculum, but despite the usual wet blanket effect of classroom assignments, there is enthusiasm for poetry and surprise that an ordinary person (i.e. not someone in a classroom) might want to write it.

What it boils down to is that, in my thirteen-month tenure, I have (in no particular order) participated in, by means of either reading or writing poetry-- or both-- the following activities:

• the rededication of the Freedmen's Cemetery (original poem)
  
• the annual Alexandria Birthday Celebration


• a Writers' Walking Workshop


• a poetry workshop for developmentally disabled kids


• poetry reading at a local nursing home


• the rededication of T.C.Williams High School (original poem)


• a poetry cafe at a Fairfax County high school


• a poetry slam for an Alexandria elementary school


• an elementary school 'opera' about the city's role in the Revolution, the Civil War, and Reconstruction


• Stories in the Park--a library program for toddlers and their parents during the summer


• two poetry workshops for the Hollin Hall Senior Center


• The Alex Awards (original poem)


• the Alexandria Library's Alexandria Authors evening


• Poetry Month speaker at an Alexandria elementary school assembly


• a poetry workshop with 2nd graders


• an event at the German Embassy initiating a program of poetry cards in the Metro


• a reading by the former poet laureate of Pennsylvania at a local university


• a reading by our Virginia poet laureate, Carolyn Foronda, at GMU


• the City's PTA Reflections contest, as judge and speaker at the awards ceremony


• the City's elementary school poet laureate contest


• an event sponsored by the Del Ray Artisans celebrating the arts


• a panel discussion on Gerard Manley Hopkins and his work sponsored by a local church


• an appearance at the National Convention of the League of American Penwomen, held here in Alexandria


• Read Across America program at Hammond Middle School


• the Yockadot Poetics Festival


• a painting class at the Torpedo Factory...

Well, you get the idea. People call with all sorts of requests, and, if at all possible, I try to oblige them, and work toward my goal of promoting poetry within the city, as well as promoting the city through poetry. I write poetry for occasions, when asked--and read my work, sometimes whether or not I'm asked. All in all, it's been a fairly busy year. I have certainly not been bored, and I most certainly have been amazed at the interest exhibited by Alexandria's citizens, and have learned a great deal about my own community. I am constantly relating stories to my family and friends about inquiries I receive, and saying about the groups and people and events I've discovered, "Who knew?"

Obviously, the City of Alexandria did--or else they would not have gone to the trouble of seeking out a Poet Laureate for the city.