In this April 4, 2017 photo, a jam session with 20 musicians fills the hall with music at the 43rd annual Alaska Folk Festival at Centennial Hall. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

In this April 4, 2017 photo, a jam session with 20 musicians fills the hall with music at the 43rd annual Alaska Folk Festival at Centennial Hall. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Writers’ Weir: Drum circle jam

A Folk Fest poem by Amy Pinney.

A benighted arrival

Mergence within a circle

Congenial strangers

With hands delivering cadence

Quick attunement to one another

And energy circulates within

Individuals accent the collective

Achieving a group consciousness

United in action and mind

Neither perfection nor pattern

But influencing self-expression

Resonating rhythmic bedlam

Co-creation, improvisation changes the flow

New direction emanates

Pulsating felt deep into the soul

Swaying with the music

Therapeutic healing felt within

A center spirit universally understood

Here and now the only sensation

Absorbing a plethoric experience

No beginning or end

Just preserving the dynamic groove.


• Amy Pinney writes about Alaska and has lived in Juneau for 30-plus years. She incorporates science due to a general passion for the outdoors, and a biology and natural resource management background. She has two boys who spark a fresh curiosity in the universe which helps afford writing inspiration. The Capital City Weekly accepts submissions of poetry, fiction and nonfiction for Writers’ Weir. To submit a piece for consideration, email us at editor@capweek.com.


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