You couldn’t have asked for a better day to read poetry.

I haven’t attended a poetry reading as a participant since 2016, when I read a poem at the Green Mill in Chicago.  So I was excited to hear that Jubilee Artisans was having a poetry reading on Friday, April 12.  I was so excited, in fact, that I even wrote a poem for the occasion.

 I arrived at the poetry reading a little before it started, It was almost 6, but the sky was still bright, and the weather was warmer than it had been all year.  The gallery owner, Christy, talked to me about selling some of our comics at the gallery, and I passed the rest of the time looking at some of the awesome artwork on the walls.  

Christy had some chairs set up by the storefront, so we could see people and cars passing by on the street.  She’d also lit some candles around the room, which got brighter as the sun got lower in the sky.  Another poet, Tim, showed up for the reading, as well as her daughter Jamie.  

I started the night off reading my new poem.  I’d wanted to make something like a slam poem–I’ve always found them fascinating, but I’ve never been especially good at writing them.  So, the night before, I played a lo-fi beat in my earphones on repeat and tried to come up with something based on the Do Art Chant we’ve come up with.  I got the audience to chant along for a refrain.  I AM AMAZING, I AM CREATIVE, I AM AN ARTIST!

Tim read some poems from the book he had on sale at the store.  Jamie read some poems she’d written as part of a 5 year stint in Tennessee.  Christy tried to encourage some of the other attendees to read by asking them to read a “favorite song.”  I liked the idea so much I read Joni Mitchell’s “Clouds,” which caused this massive emotional reaction in me the first time I heard it when I was 7 or 8 years old.  

Between reading poems, we talked in our seats about art, poetry, and music.  Tim was also a huge Joni Mitchell fan.  Between poetry and conversation the reading lasted almost 3 hours, ending when the sun had fully gone down over the horizon, and a group of hungry people went home for the evening.  

I headed west, to Jerry’s house–I had a poetry workshop the next day, and I needed some supplies.  On my way to Rochelle, IL, I put on Joni Mitchell’s album Blue.  Her strange chords and ebullient but haunting voice echoed through my car.  Joni’s voice, and her stories of love embraced and lost, still ring out fresh.

Chet’s Do Art Slam Poem

I am amazing
I am creative
I am an artist

You are amazing in a crazy way
With the ideas you  inspire and the casual play
Of the thoughts & symbols that your mind displays

Every day
Every day

I am amazing 
I am creative
I am an artist

You are creative and I wanna hear you say it
Just think back to the amazing things you made &
Realize that in someone else’s eyes
They could be an inspiration 
So keep the faith & stay patient

I am amazing
I am creative
I am an artist

You are an artist, a shooting star
Riding parabolically along the character arc
Of your masterpiece. 
Please
Believe 
In the poems you wrote

And keep spitting rhythms with the bones of your soul.