You probably know that April has fools, showers, Easter, and Kendrick Lamar album drops. You might know it as the month with Mini-Con. You might even know that April is the cruelest month, with perhaps some dry tubers. But did you know that April is National Poetry Month? This week, I figured I’d introduce you to some of the poetry events around town, and also some poets you may or may not have heard of. I’ll even introduce you to some poetry you can write yourself!
Poetry is like a good huckleberry patch around here. If you don’t know about it, you can live without it. But as soon as you know about it, you’re bumping shoulders with half the town trying to get in. It’s like a whole underground thing. My favorite community is definitely the Woosh Kinaadeiyí. If you haven’t stumbled on this berry patch, it’s an amazing community of spoken word artists, who are super encouraging and talented. You can find their workshops, slams, and open mics on their Facebook page.
Another great opportunity for writers or poets (visual artists too!) is the yearly publication at UAS, Tidal Echoes. They accept submissions in the fall, and have a showcase in the spring, and I highly recommend taking advantage of both. You can get copies of this year’s edition at the JACC.
Now, it’s no secret that I love poetry of nearly every kind. It would be easy to convince me to go to just about anything involving it. But what if you’re just not on board yet? When you hear poetry, you see a white shape in a black turtleneck and beret, yelling profanities through a Lucky Strike. Or perhaps you think of stuffy, self-important men reciting agonizing poems about “old age,” and “close of day” in lugubrious timbre. Fear not — poetry is so much more than that, and it’s got a ground-level accessibility for those who want to experience or make it. In fact, get your smartphone note app out, because you’re about to write a poem yourself.
Or, you will in just a moment. Before we get to that, I just want to give a quick shout-out to some of the best regional poets there are. I’ve got to point out one of my biggest inspirations, Christy NaMee Eriksen. She’s a spoken word artist with an intimate, proud and personal voice. If you’ve never gotten into spoken word poetry, or slam poetry, they’re poetic styles that focus more on the sound and delivery of words and less on the way words look on the page. If you listen to rap, stand-up comedy, or watch theater, you may already be into this genre without knowing it. If that doesn’t convince you, go check out Christy’s work at www.tsunamee.com. Full disclosure, I’m in one of the music videos on there and I won’t tell you which one (it’s “You Bring Out the Korean Adoptee in Me”).
Another gem you may not know about is the incredible poet, Emily Wall. I can’t say enough about her work, except that I think you should go definitely go read it. Her poems are beautiful in the dirty, delicate, tender way that nature is. I highly recommend it for everyone. You can check out her website at www.emilywall.weebly.com, where you can also buy her books.
And finally, no list of Alaskan poets would be complete without the inimitable Nora Marks Dauenhauer. What a strong, spirited, resilient voice. This is the voice of a woman who tells it like it is, or like it was, and pulls emotions and memories to the top of you where you notice them. Her poetry can make you laugh and ponder, or frown and wonder. Here is her poem “The Storm” from the book “Life Woven with Song:”
Like people
emerging from a steambath,
bending over,
steaming from their heads
and shoulders,
the ring of the mountains
from the Chilkat Range
to the Juneau ice field
as if in steambath towels
of snow flurries;
at their feet
are foaming white caps of sea
like water thrown on rocks
steaming from the heat.
OK — now here’s your crash course in poetry that I promised you. I’ll teach you a kind of poetry called Cinquain. There’s a couple different kinds, but we’re just going to focus on one today. First, pick a thing. It could be anything. Maybe something in your line of sight, or it could be a feeling or emotion. It could also be a color or other adjective. Got it in your head? You sure? OK, now pick two words that describe or allude to it. Now three words that describe actions relating to it. Now four words describing feelings relating to it. Finally, pick one word that is its synonym. Now arrange it like this, with each number representing a line:
1- your word, 2- the two words, 3- your action words, 4- your feeling words, and 5- your synonym.
Tada! You just wrote a poem! And all in the amount of time that it takes to download your favorite Kung-Fu Kenny album. So if you’re already a poetic professional, or a versifying neophyte, I hope you’ve been inspired to enjoy the poetry of Juneau, Alaska, and perhaps yourself, a little bit more. Shantih.
• Guy About Town appears the first and third Sunday of every month and includes seasonal musings on what changes and what doesn’t in a small town. Guy can be reached at unzicker.music@gmail.com.
