What a tremendous pleasure, and really an honor, to be able to perform "CO2--We're an It" in the presence of 150 lovers of poetry, including our nation's Poet Laureate, in the Trenton Library reading room this past week. My torso got to play the role of carbon, while my outstretched fists served as oxygens. The piece starts out with "We're an it, not a he, not a she. LGBT has nothin' on us three, 'cause we're CO2, you see? Just a little bit of matter that never used to matter ..." Afterwards, the MC shook my hand and told the audience, "That's the first time I ever shook hands with a molecule."
The open mic session, before poet laureate Tracy K. Smith read from her new book, brought out a wonderful variety of talented writing and deliveries, and a glorious rendition of "Wade in the Water".
I'm told that Dorothea of Labyrinth Books worked with a friend to get the ball rolling on the event, which was run by the African American Cultural Collaborative of Mercer County. The Collaborative will have another
open mic Feb. 8, 2018, this time at the Arts Council of Princeton as part of its community stage programming.
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