Alone. To read poems for “Uniquely Auburn”.
So this is how my day began. My grandma passed away yesterday. That’s 7 to the family death count in the last one month. Very depressing and uncomfortable, and uhm…not at all how I wanted the day to begin.
It rained heavy and the sky was dull grey.
From the way I drove the car, you would know that I got lost a couple of times. I called down all the gods and goddesses that my mom had introduced to me since I was a child. Troubled my husband too.
And it took me about two hours to psyche myself up before I got to the Auburn Performing Arts Center.
Yay! I arrived on time at the venue.
And then it all happened.
Poetry, Music and creative performances by the local community.
Here’s a picture of us, the Striped Water Poets as we are called –
And this is one of my poems up on a poster at the center –
For the reading, I chose a couple of poems from my book. There was no room for hemming and hawing when the pool of light fell on me. It just fell in place.
There’s no better way to gain an audience for poetry than on this stage, where we gave a professional reading to around 400 people. I read into the mike and knew my grandma was sitting somewhere out there, listening.
The joy of reconnecting the power of poetry to the people : priceless. We gave them the pleasure of our poems: the words and sounds.
The night came sooner than expected and with it, there was heavy rainfall.
By now, I had gotten used to getting lost. Of course, I took the wrong exit and got on track by the next one again.
I reached home at 8.30 pm. Big relief. I’m so happy.
I can still feel myself tensing up when I started in the morning, but I knew it was going to be a day well spent and the memory of my grandma in the reading will forever remain.
So, how did your weekend pass?
