By DANIEL H

Celebrate Poetry in Westport

By Daniel H. King

Staff Writer – Courtesy of the Dartmouth Chronicle Back to Community Events Home Page

WESTPORT — Friday night was a night to celebrate poetry in Westport, as several dozen area residents packed the candle-lit meeting room at the Macomber Meeting House, occupying all the available seats around the red-linen draped tables to enjoy a reading by local poets.

Chronicle editor Robert Barboza served as master of ceremonies for the evening, the first in a series of public readings around town sponsored by Westport's Council on Aging Poetry Workshop. This 'kickoff event' was also the first time "Visions in Verse—" an anthology of poems by workshop members— became available to the public.

The book features original works by the 13 regular members of the poetry workshop, and will soon be available for sale at local stores including Lees Market and Partners' Village Store.

The 76-page book's publication was made possible through a grant from the Westport Cultural Council, which covered the costs of the anthology with funds from the Helen E. Ellis Charitable Trust.

The crowd gathered at this kickoff event patiently endured the muggy temperatures to see and hear their friends and neighbors read aloud a variety of poems, ranging from traditional rhymed and metered verse to free verse expressions of thought. After all the applause was spent, guests had a chance to socialize with the poets over refreshments and discuss their favorite works with the authors.

One of the first readers, Westport resident Tina Costa, read a poem about her granddaughter sketching, describing the scene in this way: "nothing moves in the room/ except the artist/ who continues to work intently." She told the story of this charming little artist in a simple way which touched the hearts of the audience it was being shared with.

Another vision shared was one of tolerance. Westport summer resident Judith McLean read from a poem suggesting, "Life is unfair and unequal/ in spite of all the propaganda./ So here we are, all on board/ Humanity makes us real/ Binds us together, as we age and grow,/ tolerance keeps us together, not apart."

Another member read about a tolerance which is of the worst kind, a tolerance of cruelty. Peter Fradley read from his poem, "Rosa Parks", that "cruelty of the worst kind/ Would be tolerated no more."

Mr. Fradley had two particularly powerful lines that jumped from the page and echoed through the intimate hall: "What is jail to the prison/ She occupied for a lifetime?" There's a particular truth that speaks in those lines giving even more reason to the decisions Ms. Parks made.

Many local poets, like Westporter Heather Heath Reed, found some of their inspiration from the natural world around them, painting pictures of the local landscape that were familiar to area residents. Dartmouth resident Marsha Zeitz read a poem about the writer's block that often frustrates creative writers; Westport's Barbara Wicks shared a short poem about finding inspiration in the beautiful Queen Anne's Lace growing by the oft-traveled roadside.

One aspect of nature present in both the poetry read from the book and in the audience was the heavy humid air of summer which filled the Macomber Meeting House. Joan Fradley of Westport read in her poem "Overnight", "Summer slipped out last night/ taking her sultry/ sweat-dripping/ purgatory/ with her."

George Salvador of Dartmouth was to the podium next. One particular poem of his which received lengthy applause was the emotionally-charged "We Don't Speak". Mr. Salvador read: "We Don't Speak/ of past delights:/ of winter nights/ of tales/ of hands held tight.../ Now we speak:/ of ambitions/ of priorities/ of our wants/ of our losses/ of our grief/ of our looks/ of our need/ for pure gold."

Similarly powerful was a short poem entitled "my Father's Shoes" read by Westport's Rosemary Lenrow, who capped her time at the podium with a tribute to the uplifting power of dance. Flo Fusaro-Raposa similarly touched on the strength of family ties in several of her poems.

Mr. Barboza was the final reader of the night, noting he was an "adopted member of the COA poetry workshop" when he went to a workshop session to report on the group's activities a few years ago and has been a member ever since.

One poem he read, "So Many Things" captured the local face of the national debate over the war in Iraq. He read, "so many things these days/ to remind you of/ this endless war——/ driving past/ the freshly-painted sign/ at the Friends Meeting House/ turning away to avoid their/ daily reminder of the price paid/ the thousands dead" as the evening's guests sat only 50 feet from the daily reminder posted on Main Road.

The evening reading marked the beginning of a continuing reading series by workshop members, many of whom had never read their work before an audience before. It also marked the debut of a collection of poetry reflecting the many diverse "visions" of Westport area poets which should prove interesting to local readers.

- - - - - - End - - - - - -