Poet Laureate 7: Poetry in Motion, Iowa City

One of my favorite activities as Poet Laureate is to perform poetry with music. I had that opportunity on 9 November 2024 as a featured poet for the Poetry in Motion event within the Mic Check Poetry Festival sponsored by Iowa City Poetry. The featured poets were Shayna "Akanke" Marie, Mister Aubs, Kelsey Bigelow, Vince Gotera, Donika Kelly, and Samm Yu. Music accompaniment to the poetry came from the Blake Shaw Trio jazz band. The emcee for the event was Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey. Here is the flyer for the event (click on it to see it larger). When it was my turn, I performed the poems "Gawain's Rap," "Letter to Bob Boynton, Music Prodigy," "Blues Channel, Northwest Airlines / Flying from Minneapolis to San Jose," and "Rock and Roll." Here are some photos from that event (click on each to see it larger). First, my partner Renee and I; second, a photo of my performance. Interestingly, the poem "Blues Channe, Northwest Airlines / Flying from Minneapolis to San Jose" was originally written for a poetry-plus-music event in San Jose in 1995, where poets performed with the Eddie Gale jazz band. So that poem has been performed with live music twice. Another interesting tidbit about that poem is that I actually wrote it while on the plane heading to that event. Here's that poem: Blues Channel, Northwest Airlines Flying from Minneapolis to San Jose Son House. Sonny Boy Williamson. Sonny                     Terry’s blues harp howling like                                 a wolf in a Georgia pine forest.           Freight train tunneling through California                                 redwoods. Red beans, rack of ribs                          in a Kansas City firehouse. Hoochie                     coochie man. Cajun catfish       with a mess of greens, okra, cornbread—                          gumbo! Mumbo-jumbo, Muddy                          Waters jamming with Memphis Slim in a Mississippi roadhouse. Piano                 keys plinking and clunking hot       as tar sizzling. Chicago rooftop.                          Guitar chunking heavy as an aircraft                          carrier, dreadnought, juggernaut, not                                       like brandy snifters or cut crystal.                 How long has this been going on?                 They call it Stormy Monday. How long, sweet Mama, how long? Boom boom boom boom.                          Bass drum, tom-tom, high hat, snare.                   Brown hair, blonde hair, redhead, black                   dreadlocks flowing like weary blues.                                Robert Johnson. Langston Hughes.     Summerhouse, whorehouse, smokehouse blues. —Vince Gotera, first appeared in Phoebe (1996). Poetry in Motion was a really wonderful, memorable event, with excellent poetry performances and an equally excellent jazz ensemble. Here's a video of the entire event: Many thanks to Caleb Rainey for organizing this event. Along with Lisa Roberts of Iowa City Poetry. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ