We had our "Emerging Voices" poetry performance last night. Have I said how much I love my class? I LOVE those people! We each read two poems, not, thankfully, back to back. I did better than I thought I would, but oh my dear God, some of the people in the class are just SO GOOD! I bought 10 chapbooks and gave one to Bruce and keeping one. I need to find good homes for the rest, but I so wish I could send the poets along too so people could have a sense of who they are. Payton read first. I was disappointed that in the class I was never in a workshop with him so I only got to hear like one of his poems early on. He won a poetry prize. One day I saw him in the Harmon's grocery store and I told him I thought he was very talented (based on the one poem he read to the class) He is an interesting mix. I get the feeling of Jack Kerouac and the midwest. He seems a little uncomfortable in his body but that if he WERE comfortable he might could do amazing things. I would not put shape shifting past him. He has an element of ecstasy and yet groundedness in his poems. He writes about strange places like Vietnam (when could he have been there? I think he is in his late 20s. And there is much alcohol in his poetry like he is trying to burst the bands and be the shaman that he seems to be inside. I don;t know that the alcohol will do it but I am betting he gets there. I went next. I was decent. Mariah went third. I love her name, Mariah. She started off the semester rhyming everything and I think it's hard for her to accept poetry doesn't have to rhyme. She is a pretty woman, blonde with flirting eyes and she writes very upbeat poetry. her beautiful eyes and smile were the closest I could get to her though, otherwise it seems that she lives in a different world than me, but one I USED to think was real. For her I hope it stays real, because she likes it there. Next was Cammie, she has some really really beautiful images in her poems but, because of shyness I think she tends to read them too fast. Last night, on the darkened stage, she relaxed and I was spellbound in enchantment. One of her poems, Balloonman she typed out in the shape pf a balloon trailing a string. It is a good poem! Talks about feeling dependent and how it feels when (sorry) the bubble burst. but her other one, which she dedicated to her grandma I found deeply lovely. It has a sensuousness and an innocence and respect and love all through it. She read so well! Kelsey J read next. She is a very talented young woman! This first poem of hers was called Casual Sex and it is good! Her boyfriend came to the reading (there were a good number of people there. i was a little sad that none of MY friends came) He brought her a big bouquet of yellow flowers. She is also a person who in class tended to rush through her readings. But last night she did not and she put a lot of feeling into them. I was very impressed that she memorized these two long poems. Casual Sex was good but the other one, Shackled, where she talks about having Achalasia was really really moving. It was the closing poem of the evening. Kelsey R read next. She looks a lot different than she writes! She looks very sweet and maternal and I do not doubt that is there but she writes as if writing is her lifeblood. Like she needs to do it, no matter if anyone ever read anything. I really love her writing! Daniel was next. My first impression of Daniel was a little along the lines of Morris the cat, Garfield with a tinge of a straight Truman Capote if you can imagine that. Over the class time I came to feel really like he was a brother of mine. Both of his poems were very heartful and he said a lot in a short space. He is also musical but I failed to ask him what he plays! he's apparently very serious about playing music though. Both of his poems dealt with pain and grief. Andrew was next. Andrew! I am not sure but i would guess him for a drama major. He is VERY expressive in face and body and he speaks very well. He didn't practice his poems in class (I think because the teacher was giving more time to those of us who are NOT performers) he is so natural in performance and so well knows what he is doing that I was surprised that he choked a little last night. He still put in 2 very good performances though. he is the one who reminds me of the trapeze artist from a childhood deck of Old Maid cards, he wears mutton chop sideburns and manages to make them look good. Josh read next. Josh was another one who I never got to hear in class. But he seemed, I am no sure, cowed? Like walking down the street people probably do not look at Josh past the first glance. Last night though I learned he has a magnificent reading voice, His poems are a little hard to understand, like they were spun in a reality I don;t quite recognize, a gentle mix of fantasy with a tnge of what we might call insane? But hearing him read last night I wanted to explore that world. After Josh there was Whitney. Ah Whitney!! Such a firecracker! When i got home and gave Bruce a copy of the chap book he surprised (and delighted) me by reading it right away and he had things to say. One was that MY poetry wasn't as bad as I think it is, nice but he lives with me.So I take that with a grain of salt. He thought Whitney had the strongest voice of all of us and if he had seen her she would have cemented that impression. He used the word for her he really only used in relation to hims mom. "Spitfire" and that she is! She is amazing! Next was Michael. Oh Michael Michael Michael!!! It is my second class with michael and everything I learn about him makes me just really like him more! He reminds me of a combination of my brother and an elf. I would have felt sorry for him having to perform after Whitney but I think he gave the best performance of the night! And that's sayng a LOT! I hope I run into michael again and again. Kelton had to follow Michael. Kelton seems shy. But last night, esecially in his second poem he absolutely ROCKED! He was being a dragon and fighting a dragon and a hundred other things i did not expect to see from him. I was WOWED! Gabby. I would love to be Gabby's friend, but I get the impression that's a hard task to undertake. Though plenty who have done it showed up for her last night. She is a black woman. She is sassy and smart and very observant and she's a perfectionist. She kept muffing her first reading last night but her response was so charming and funny and GABBYESQUE that I was almost glad. She has a wonderful voice. I could listen to her read a phone book. And she is very funny. Writes very good poetry too. Then came Joh. My first impression of Joh was something between a cat and a lizard. He is 5'5" but quite often the spirit of him grows enormous. He is deadpan and hilarious which is such a good combination. He tells the best true but hard to believe stories! He says he is half Asian (I think Japanese) but jokes that you can't see it. And I sure never would have guessed. I am really going to miss seeing Joh, Unless somehow I am lucky enough to do so again. He was the one whose Vegan ex-girlfriend attacked his car tires with a SWORD. Ad next was Missy. I fell in love with Missy on sight. She is sort of like a hippie spirit born to this generation. She is a wonderful performer but i think that's just because she is being herself. And I love her poetry! She is so deft! She was perfect last night. Tahina read next. She is also a back woman. I had this impression ( hope I am wrong) that she wished she was white. She strted the semester rhyming and writing only "nice" stuff but when she opened up oh my God she was good! and she's beautiful too. Tiny and looking like no one but Tahina. She was worried about being able to read one of the poems we had selected among the 4 she offered. It was her best but she thought she could not read it well. She sure did! She read it superbly. And that was our class except our teacher Darren. i took this this because i enjoyed him so much in a previous class. he is full of energy and enthusiasm. I love that I have never seen him in shoes. He wears thongs. He is a very good teacher. But he won't be back. As an adjunct (sans PhD) it is not worth it. That is a pity! I have had some really good professors, Dr Lewis, Dr Bringhurst, Dr Armstrong, but this guy is sure enough up with them. it's a pity that a PhD is required to be a full fledged professor.