Cecilia Woloch as poet-in-residence at Hancock Park School, 1000 years ago |
What Good Does Poetry Do?
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Dear ones ~
It’s April, and National Poetry Month is upon us again. I wonder if anyone wonders why it is that poetry should have a full month to itself, if anyone cares, if anyone is even paying attention, other than poets themselves?
A thousand years ago, I walked into a third grade classroom in a school in L.A. where I was poet-in-residence. The kids went wild, they clapped and cheered. Well, they were always glad to see me, my weekly visits were a break in the normal school-day routine, but I stopped in my tracks that day and asked them what they were so excited about. One kid yelled out, “Poetry!” I shot back, “What good does poetry do?” Another kid yelled, “It brings out the YOU!” and I picked up a piece of chalk and wrote that on the board. We often wrote poems together this way — spontaneously, collaboratively, the kids shouting out lines while I transcribed.
What Good Does Poetry Do?
It brings out the YOU!
It makes you crazy
to tell things
in a short, musical way.
You can practice your writing.
It makes you happy.
It squishes.
3rd grade class
Hancock Park School
We also turn to the reading and writing of poetry for solace and understanding, in times of personal and collective trauma and suffering, in order to transcend those crises, and perhaps to heal. And we turn to poetry because it makes language new again, startles us awake to the possibilities and magic of words. Those of us who write poetry, who ache sometimes with the desire to write poetry, want always to feel connected to the source of that magic.
Recently, my dear friend, the poet Carine Topal, sent me a message that asked, in essence, What is it all about, why do we do this thing we do? — in other words, What good does poetry do? None of us knows if our poems will last, if they’ll speak to future generations, but, as I told Carine, at least we’ll have spoken, and for now we’re still speaking — “I’m speaking!” as Vice President Kamala Harris says — and writing is still the deepest pleasure I know, or she or any poet knows. I just don’t feel fully alive if I don't feel connected to that part of myself that only poetry gives me access to — an access I gain not only by writing poems, but by reading and hearing and entering the poems of others.
Yes, we poets circle around and question the value of poetry; in our poems, we may obsess about the same things over and over, but as the astrologer Rob Brezny wrote, those obsessions should be treated “as if they're holy, as if they're direct instructions from God." Because these are our rows to hoe, our underground rivers to navigate. Every year, National Poetry Month reminds me that I’m not alone in this, that I have a tribe — although my tribe is scattered, to paraphrase Stanely Kunitz — and that poets and poetry are everywhere.
Happy National Poetry Month.
Love,
Cecilia
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WORKSHOPS & SALONS (online via Zoom)
REGENERATIVE WEEKEND WORKSHOP FOR POETS
These workshops are held monthly and offer feedback on a body of work-in-progress, guidance toward revision, and generative exercises.
Registration open for:
Saturday and Sunday, April 17 and 18
and/or Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and 16
10 a.m.-2:00/2:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Click HERE for more info. or to register.
MODPO READERS SALON: 20th CENTURY POETRY CLASS
These salons are held monthly and facilitate a relaxed study and lively discussion of 20th-century poetry in English.
Registration open for 3-salon Saturday series: April 24, May 22, June 26
10 a.m.-12:00/12:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Click HERE for more info. or to register.Drop-in for one session also available.
THE WRITERS JOURNAL: PRACTICE AND PROCESS
These monthly workshops are designed for writers of any genre at any level of development who seek to create or sustain a daily writing practice. Dust off your notebook and pen and get ready to practice some pirouettes and arabesques on the page. Registration open for 3-salon Sunday series: May 2, June 6, July 11
Drop-in for one session also available.
*NEW* VIRTUAL COMMUNITY FORUM
The online forum facilitates communication and sharing of work and more among members of our community between workshops and salons.
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COMMUNITY NEWS
CECILIA & FRIENDS COMMUNITY POETRY READING
Come celebrate National Poetry Month with us! More details on flyer below.
Sunday, April 25 on Zoom
12 p.m. Pacific Time
RSVP HERE to receive the Zoom link to the reading.
FELLOWSHIP FUND FOR WRITERS
Our Fellowship Fund makes salons and workshops accessible to writers of diverse backgrounds and voice, regardless of their financial circumstances. If you are in a position to pay it forward with a contribution of ANY amount, we would be very grateful! Please leave a note on your donation and let us know who you are so we can thank you.
Click HERE to donate. Thank you in advance ❤
OPPORTUNITY FOR EDUCATORS Seeking educators or college/graduate students interested in helping develop digitized lesson plans from Cecilia's teaching materials archive. Reply to this e-mail if interested.
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RSVP HERE to receive the Zoom link to our April 25 poetry reading. We can accommodate 100 people in our Zoom room and would love to see you there!
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