last monday night (pre-terrible head cold) we went to the troubadour, near earl's court, for the coffee house poetry reading. we were invited as guests of the magnificent (& beautiful) poet, anne-marie fyfe, who is in charge of the every-other-monday series. it was by all means (despite being cliche to say), rather romantic--to be listening to poetry in a crowded basement of a magnificent old pub, to be in a barrel full of readers/writers. though one poem was recited twice by the same poet (!) and caused a few giggles, the overall effect was of people thriving on and digging into serious language. don't get me wrong--there were also merrily shouted refrains during john hegley's hilarious bit (it's hard to hear the worm about the tur-moil!).the reading was to promote poems on the underground, which is part of a large-scale project spanning the past twenty years. many of the pieces included are more accessible than my own poetic leanings (part of this might stem from a certain reader friendliness and an absolute necessity of smallness) but the reading itself made london poetics feel more present for me. here were current contemporary writers strong-arm singing alongside millay and yeats. and the poets read beautifully--their voices felt both indelible and present and yet almost as though crackling from the lily-shaped horn of a gramophone. in the end, it was an evening of determined language (and a few exciting shy introductions to people on the scene).
above is a fantastic taste of mr. hegley's humor. happy monday to you all!
{image via thischarmingbroad}
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