the third poetry reading for this project on satudray, july 11 took on a pleasantly cozy approach where almost every single person in the audience offered comments and asked questions, often talking to each other across the table between readings of the poems. the schuylkill valley community library hosted it in an easy, sit-down, especially comfortable and welcoming space where chatting between poems worked out very well. everyone seemed to love that about the feel of the reading. and this connecting persuasion between people who are unfamiliar with each other, meeting suddenly in the moment, was a goal of the project. so seeing this felt like magic sparked by stories told in poem form, along with a great environment and a smaller crowd of 10 as the audience.
at each reading, a few poems by heather thomas and philip terman are shared to give examples of poetry outside of this project's sound, for those who aren't normally close to this realm of literature. it's a way to show how varied poems across different poets can be. plus, these two were great inspirations for the project and such encouraging souls for those who write, write, and write.
edna machemer's poem, recently posted to the blog, fit the reading well since she worked at a former factory which had been probably less than a mile or two from this exact library where we sat to enjoy the afternoon and mull over these poems in a small community-ish heart-hugging sense.
pat mckinney of schuylkill county had a great idea as someone in the audience and asked if any of the poems from the project so far had ever been read by anyone other than the poet. the answer: no, but that led to a great idea where he, as well as charlie curtis of berks county and ryan marie rettew of lancaster county read poems in the voices of the sources.
here are scenes of mckinney and rettew as they sat to test out reading poems from the project to everyone in the audience. all photographs after this point are courtesy of the ever-kind artist erica vinskie-cinelli who helped to put a camera to use during this poetry reading.
seniors who were a part of the poems from this project and lived not far from this library could not attend because of transportation and liability concerns from their retirement homes, which is understandable (although a little sad, but it makes sense), so here is a photograph by the poet from a few months ago of pauline phillips of maidencreek township, born in 1933. curtis read her poem, and below also is an excerpt.
*
the building went up in 1916 at 43 east noble street
in shoemakersville, merit underwear company. i didn't
like sewing. i used a sewing machine for around six
months. i could hardly wait until they had another
opening in the folding department. sewing, some may
love it, but to me, it all felt horrible, and i just wanted
to get away from needle after needle and spools upon
spools of thread. then, relief—i became a supervisor
in the folding department, made sure the girls knew
what to do, and they came to me anytime they couldn't
figure out the folding just right or if a shirt didn't crease
the way it was supposed to, if the examiner missed
a mistake.
sometimes we'd spot a small patch of dirt on the fabric,
fingers full of cleaning fluid in some moments. or we'd
notice a seam open. we used a machine to tie heavy string
around the boxes where we folded freshly made underwear
into new four-sided homes until the pairs found their way
to stores. if you didn’t fold everything just right, it didn’t fit
into those tiny boxes, and you had to do it again. toward
the end, they had me in the cutting room, scissors in hand.
anna billig drove me to work
until i learned to drive, and then
i took
my dad’s 1933 plymouth, maybe
a coupe. we all got along well,
a few men and all of us girls.
now that place is apartments.
*
curtis also read through the book by philip terman which was passed around, the torah garden, but on his own.
it is a joy-stirring gift to notice people sitting pensively in appreciating what they hear of line after line of poems from the seniors who are helping this project to be possible. people who value history and the stories of those who are oldest around us come out of the woodwork and toss around gratitude and insights well when you're hoping for just that.
al haring of maxatawny township attended again, like he did at the first reading for this project, but this time he brought along his neighbor, don bucci, who introduced haring to the project. it is always great to have a poem-source there while his or her poem is read because that seems to be the audience's favorite aspect each time, as per comments afterward and notes on the handwritten surveys completed toward the end.
don and maryann neblock drove all the way from downingtown, chester county to be at this reading. they are enthusiastic supporters of this project, and it shows alone by the many miles they drove, as did mckinney.
thank you again so incredibly much to everyone who has been supportive and encouraging with this project, and especially to everyone who has beamed of caring gratitude just in hearing about it being a part of berks county.
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