this past saturday evening, this poetry project had its first official public reading outside of berks county and in literary-loved up scenery: the ideas bookstore in kimberton, chester county. this place is whimsical in itself but all the more so because it has an upcycled section of tree on the first floor, with glittery lights inside, and kids can crawl in it to settle down and read a good book.
emily neblock and her father, don neblock, added some worthwhile character at the poetry reading by testing out some of the poems from volume two in their own voices to help give variety of sound and how we perceive what we hear when it is spoken from the page.
and while several members of the audience offered questions about the people whose stories are shared in these poems, barbara tucker asked a lot about the nature of the process of this work, including one inquiry which pops up often at readings. people want to know how much of a poem is the source's voice and how much of it is the poet's. the poems are often largely paraphrased to be written more poetically than they were first said, but all of the seniors who have poems in the project are given drafts in advance to proofread for accuracy of how their stories and memories are conveyed. direct wording phrases from the seniors are peppered into lines here and there, and i pointed that out in a few poems, including the one about brenda lee boone's past manufacturing jobs.
photography is kindly courtesy of aaron wozniak.
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