It's been a while since I've written a non-poem entry - well, I guess along the way I realized what I wanted the intention of this blog to be. On that note, what I have to say is very much poetry related! This entire week thus far (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) has been ridiculously fulfilling! On Monday, Steven and I saw Andrea Gibson. THE Andrea Gibson! Her performance was so amazing that anything I say will fall short of the praise it deserves. I think "Ashes" and "Jellyfish" were my favorites -- but honestly, EVERY poem she read was absolutely magical. And between poems she was hilarious; her humor was just as infectious as the intensity of the poems she shared with us.
While in line waiting to meet her, I realized that I didn't have enough cash to purchase one of her books nor her CDs, which was a complete bummer. Also, I wanted to take a picture with her, and I turned on my camera in line to see if all was running smoothly. I was terrified when I saw the "Out of Memory" notification, and I frantically deleted pictures I didn't need in my sim card. While doing that my camera had the nerve to say "Battery Exahusted" and turn off on me, never to turn on again that night. After Steven was done talking to her, he literally introduced me to her! I was shaking as I shook her hand, and in the midst of my nervousness and star-struck awe towards Andrea, I told her the whole story about how amazing she was and how my camera died. She laughed and was very sweet about it -- but I know that I did indeed make a total fool of myself. I did end up getting a picture with her though! Steven's friend Idris took it for us!
On Tuesday I was joined by Rohma, Mehreen, and Veena returned to the same venue for the Beltway Poetry Slam. All of the contestants were amazing, and there were some who were especially moving. Mehreen was definitely one of them! She shared two of her soulful poems and I swear I felt chills as I heard her read. There was also someone who looked 15 years old and who was basically slamming and rapping interchanably, and his pieces were absolutely genius. A man named Clint won the slam that night, and rightfully so. One of his poems was about being a teacher and how he responded to a student who asked why they had to learn about the classics in class. I loved it!
The feature poet on Tuesday was Ed Mabrey. I knew nothing about him stepping into The Fridge, but I definitely felt his heart when he recited his poems! One of his poems was about a lesbian and the torment she had to face growing up -- I was in tears once again just as I was when Andrea Gibson was in town. So, I'm definitely an Ed Mabrey fan. I was once again nervous while we stood in line, eating free cake, waiting to meet Mr. Mabrey. He was very, very friendly, sweet, and down-to-earth. You could tell that he actually wanted to meet people and have conversations with them. He accepted my friend request on facebook! I am so pumped about life right now!
And today came as a total surprise. As a requirement for many English classes here at UMD, students are to attend "Writers Here & Now" programs in which fiction writers and poets are featured. Today's poet was Patricia Smith, who to my very pleasant surprise I found to be a slam poet! Her work was chock-full of humor and yet so passionate! She also wrote more serious poems about Hurricane Katrina which definitely made me tear up again. Yes, I'm adding her to my I-LOVE-YOU-MY-SLAM-POET list.
Well, I really needed to share that! I have so many academic priorities I'm totally ignoring this week, but you know what? Poetry's worth it, doesn't matter when.
Love and Good Night,
Gowri Nadmichettu
