The chapbook collation party was scheduled to begin around 6 p.m. in Norman. Norman is a bedroom community for OKC. The trip is about 45 minutes, except during rush hour. Since temperatures are topping 100, I thought it wise to leave OKC around 4.
I still hit a bit of traffic congestion, but got to Norman about 4:45 or so. I decided to visit a few old haunts. First – Hastings, a book/cd/video chain that has yet to make it to OKC proper. I successfully avoided spending money. Second - places I used to live when I was attending college in Norman (I tell people my major was "mind-altering substances").
I took pictures of the place I lived when I wrote "I sleep under the sign". I took pictures of the plot the Green House once occupied. Then the place I lived between the Green House and my marriage. [Pictures of these places will be posted in the near future]
Then I went to the Jacobson House, a Swedish and Native American cultural center. It may seem an odd combination, but the Jacobsons were Swedes who had a great love and respect for Native American traditions. Their former house now has one of the premier collections of Native American arts and crafts not in a museum. It is also a venue for poetry readings, especially by Native Americans.
Over 30 poets were expected. Now - do the math - if 30 poets read for 5 minutes each, how late would we be going? Since the reading started at 8, it's probable the reading would not have ended until 10:30 at the earliest. Therefore, the organizer asked us to read only one poem each.
I decided to read "The Year of the Flood"; as what I call a "memory poem" it seemed to have the closest relationship to Woody (through his autobiographical novel Bound For Glory) of any of the poems I had planned on. I think, with my introduction, the poem still may have lasted five minutes.
One of the treats of the reading on Saturday was the fact that the poets would be accompanied by pianist David Amram. Mr. Amram once accompanied the Beat poets (e.g. Kerouac and Ginsburg), so I was really looking forward to that experience.
I read "Praising the Muse" and "Never Thunders in Hades". The latter was written in 1978, and I think of it as a performance piece. I was especially anxious to experience what Mr. Amram would create.
David picks up on subtle cues from the reader to create the musical background. One thing I noticed is that he quickly finds what key the poet is speaking in. He also finds a tempo that compliments the poet's speaking patterns. The music he played behind the second poem was almost as abstract as the poem itself. I thought it worked, and a friend commented afterwards that he thought David and I must have rehearsed.
So that was positive.
The downside, for both readings, was the fact that I read late in the program. I read shortly after a break Friday night, and over half the audience had left during the break. I read during the last third of the program on Saturday, and I think people were just a bit weary by that point. Although the music certainly helped maintain the interest throughout the afternoon (the reading was from 1-3).
Given this context, reading longish poems was possibly not the best choice. My choice on Friday really was determined by what I thought best fit a Woody Guthrie theme. I'll freely admit that my choice of the long poem on Saturday was somewhat self-serving. But I was willing to risk it.
It was a re-entry into the Oklahoma "poetry scene", and as such a positive experience.
One last thing - the chapbook cover I designed (above) will soon be available as a t-shirt. Stay tuned.
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