Saturday evening found me in Detroit at Pages Bookshop (which was the first time I've been and it was impressive in its selections--I look forward to returning more as a shopper than as one attending a reading). I was there to see a conversation on the power of poetry between Robert Fanning and Peter Markus. It was really an interesting event, as both briefly read from recent books--Robert's most recent, Our Sudden Museum, and Peter's is Inside My Pencil. Robert's is a collection of his poetry; Peter's is a book explaining his 20 year career with InsideOut Literary Arts Project as a writer going into the public schools of Detroit and teaching poetry to students. Between the two of them they have very strong opinions on the power of poetry, as well as a long-standing friendship and admiration of each other's work that made the conversation very open and free.
As noted a couple of weeks back, Robert is a fantastic reader of his work, and Peter is as well, which definitely added to the event. The fact that it was a full-house, and many friends and family present, also added to the atmosphere. It was nice to see and catch up a bit with Dwayne Hayes and Jessica Bomarito, and briefly see a couple of other local poets and to see former students of Peter from Detroit come back to this event.
Sunday morning I noticed that Robert Fanning was going to be doing another reading, from 2-4 p.m. at the Hannan House in Detroit. Was to be him and a singer-songwriter. We messaged back and forth and he let me know that a) there was an open mic before those two and b) he was going to ask Christina Kallery to come up and read a few poems before he read. Checkmate--afternoon plans decided--I'm not going to miss either of these two read, let alone both together.
I'm really glad I went, and not solely due to getting to see the two of them again. The series, Musings, run by Ann Holdreith, currently at the Hannan House the third Sunday of each month (though, I discovered the series just in time for a hiatus for the summer). As one that bypassed 50 over a year ago, I hesitate to refer to things as old, but I would consider this to be a series where you'll see more old school Detroiters. M.L. Leibler was in attendance. Some of those that hit the open mic portion talked about having been around the block a few times, at least one had a collection published, and for the most part, had very good, revised and worked on poems to share.
Apologies to anybody here whose name I have butchered.
Denise Sedman
--Big Boys - a poem inspired by her 25th high school reunion
--Stillborn - a poem in conversation with a poem by John Sinclair
Both works were very good--strong, polished, she read well. I'd be interested in seeing her read again for sure.
Ken Meisel
--Letter to Paul <then I missed the rest of this as it was a decently long title> - this was inspired by a chalk angel drawing at the Heidelberg Project
--Forgiving
The first poem was from a journal, possibly MQR? And the second was from a collection of Ken's. Both were really strong, very raw and emotional. Another poet I'd happily go see read again and will most likely be ordering a book from soon.
John Mullins
I'm fairly certain I've butchered John's last name. He also ran the sound for this event which was great.
--The Great West Virginia Bear Encounter
A much longer poem than other material read this afternoon, but again, strong. He weaved in among this story of an encounter with a bear, other events from life including a childhood meeting of a bully with his best friend, and later, the death of his father, and in no instance did this feel forced. Also, the first reader to read from his tablet and not paper.
Luther Taylor
Maybe a younger poet than the others that read, and Luther went from memorization. The two poems he read: The Boy Who Couldn't Talk, and The Promises to Bare, both seemed extremely personal and closer to story telling than poetry. There was something there though--something holding the listeners very closely while he performed.
Dawn McDuffie
A long-time Detroit teacher and poet, Dawn got up and noted that lately she's been fascinated with poems that have drink themes.
--Smooth John B (after the song, and perhaps inspired by a catamaran cruise in Hawaii)
--St. Patrick - about a bar in Grosse Pointe
Another excellent performance of solid work.
Susan Sunshine--the Earth Poet
Susan is a proponent of the environment, and is a bit pissed off. She read two poems, the first from 1997 was titled --Spring Forward, Fall Back
--Constant Exposures
Her performance was interesting as she frequently went off in different directions, discussing issues, and then falling back into the poem itself. Relevant stuff though for sure.
Ann Holdreith
--There's a Crazy Me Inside the Heavenly You - this had a line that stuck with me---"there is a hole in the sky and God is leaking out"
--Evening Star - a poem that had her singing the word blue over and over at the end in different tones and vocal ranges that was quite powerful
Then the open mic portion ended and Robert Fanning took the microphone. He noted he'd been working on this collection for about 15 years during which he lost his father, a brother and his sister, while seeing the birth of his two children. He then recognized the fact that somebody in the audience was seeing him for the third time in two weeks and with that in mind, he had searched for a new group of poems to read (which he had also done for the 2nd such reading).
--Maybe Via Social Media... - Robert noted his father's birthday would have been a couple of days earlier. This poem went back to a time when his dad signed up for Facebook. He noted they weren't great communicators with each others, just great talkers, and the poem was the hope that maybe social media would break that down some.
--The End Apparently Isn't Near - I must have been very caught up in this one as I have zero notes by it
At this point, Robert invited Christina Kallery up to read a couple of poems, beginning with a very warm introduction about why he wanted others to have the opportunity to hear her work.
Christina Kallery
--Swan Falls in Love with a Swan Shaped Boat - I recently saw Christina read and so she apologized to me that I'd have to hear this poem again. Quite the opposite, I'd be more than a bit upset if I went to see her read and this was not read aloud. It's a fantastic poem--you can find it online via her website, I suggest you do so.
--Missed Connections - based on the Craiglist section
Many thanks to Robert for this addition to the afternoon. Any chance you get to see Christina read, figure out how to work it into your schedule. Search for her work online. Publishers of poetry, ask to see her work.
Robert Fanning
--There is a Light That Never Goes Out - yes, also a Smiths song title (there are a few in this collection) - a poem about one of Robert's brothers and maybe the one time he helped Robert with his car
--Staying the Night - a poem about spending the night in his sister's apartment the night after she passed away on the operating table. This is the only poem Robert read at all three readings this month and truly, if there is one poem in the book I could listen to him read over and over, it is this one.
--Flute - an admission to his sister, after she passed away, that he used to sneak into her room as a child and look at her flute
--Learning to Live with Your Death - a poem about survivor's grief and how grief grows within us
--Paper Dolls - Robert noted that when he found out his wife was pregnant for the first time, that he almost had a heart attack. Suddenly there were things in the world to actually worry about. That night, around two a.m., unable to sleep, he found himself watching a documentary about conjoined twins.
--Old Postcard - a pretty straightforward, yet thoughtful, description of what one might find on an old postcard, the writing from whomever had sent it way back when
--What is Written On the Leaves - a powerful ending to his reading with a fantastic lead-in story about a woman living in an Assisted Living home, who tracked Robert down after seeing him read and asking for a copy of the poem so that she could read it to start her day off every morning.
There aren't a lot of people I can imagine myself going to see read their work multiple times in a month (let alone a weekend) but both Robert and Christina fit that bill. I can't imagine not finding a way to get to wherever either was reading, so the chance to catch them both at one event was fantastic.
The afternoon ended with the music of Anthony Retka.
--Radiant White - a song about hope that was quite beautiful
--Pictures Through Windows - a song inspired by the suicide of a friend, trying to get into their head to understand
--The Other Side - noticed during this song just what great vocal control Anthony had.
--Walk Away - a song inspired by trying to get a friend to get out of a bad relationship
--The Hardest Thing - as Robert did, Anthony closed out very strong. I'll be looking for him when he's playing around Detroit again soon.
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