Tonight I participated in a poetry reading which was delightfully unusual. Our County is pretty dedicated to being Green, and our Poet Laurete for the next two years thought up this beautiful way to celebrate our watersheds. There were six poets, all women, because women represent water in so many ways. (Don't worry, the men get their glory) The poet laurete asked the County map-maker for a map of all the watersheds and she framed in with UV glass and its the only one framed that way which is so important. All the other maps are fading or faded already. Then she found six poets she felt dedicated some of their writing to the importance of water and she asked us if she could use a line or two from a particular poem. Then she made the same map as the map-maker did but on transparency plastic with the watersheds inked on it, and then, with the computer, she transferred those poetry lines to fit on the transparent map. As if a miracle, she found an old piece of packing box probably from the 1800s which had stamped on it our County name. It was probably a ship's cargo box which made it even more perfect for the project. She made little clips and then clipped the transparency right to the board. It's funky, it's beautiful, it's information.
We all sat in a semi-circle with the maps behind us and held black notebooks with fifteen pages of the names of the watersheds typed in a column, though sometimes part of a second column.
We had arranged which sections poets would read and some sections we made for each poet to read three creek names and then the next poet, three creek names, every ten creeks or gulches, we read in chorus. We each read several watersheds all by ourselves. It was beautiful.
We drove thirty miles from our small town to the county seat where it took place and when I got
into the old, but renovated building, I set my notebook down to get a glass of water. Someone accidently put some object over it and I didn't find it until after the show. I had to read with my neighbor, who graciously pointed out my names to read in advance. Oh, but the names were beautiful or silly or someone's true name who had lived there back in the 1800s. So many mysterious-by-now reasons why a river or creek got its name.
We gave this reading to a full house in order to remind people that to name something is to give it power. Water is so valuable. I don't mean money, despite the fact that people are selling their
water which is not their right. I mean as an entity which nourishes us and keeps us alive, we require water.
Two of the poets made food that was truly art. We will probably do it again in a studio because the rustle of papers was distracting. We do a watershed event every year and each year try to be different.
We all sat in a semi-circle with the maps behind us and held black notebooks with fifteen pages of the names of the watersheds typed in a column, though sometimes part of a second column.
We had arranged which sections poets would read and some sections we made for each poet to read three creek names and then the next poet, three creek names, every ten creeks or gulches, we read in chorus. We each read several watersheds all by ourselves. It was beautiful.
We drove thirty miles from our small town to the county seat where it took place and when I got
into the old, but renovated building, I set my notebook down to get a glass of water. Someone accidently put some object over it and I didn't find it until after the show. I had to read with my neighbor, who graciously pointed out my names to read in advance. Oh, but the names were beautiful or silly or someone's true name who had lived there back in the 1800s. So many mysterious-by-now reasons why a river or creek got its name.
We gave this reading to a full house in order to remind people that to name something is to give it power. Water is so valuable. I don't mean money, despite the fact that people are selling their
water which is not their right. I mean as an entity which nourishes us and keeps us alive, we require water.
Two of the poets made food that was truly art. We will probably do it again in a studio because the rustle of papers was distracting. We do a watershed event every year and each year try to be different.
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