The largest poetry reading ever
Words and poetry can change the world. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech asked us to live in peace together. Poet Helen Losse, in her poem “Spin, Spin, Spin” wrote, “we have lost the faith of the daisies. Sweet hickory smoke floats like violets — or maybe violence — on the wind.” It’s a call for a changed relationship with the world. Early 19th century Romantic poet William Wordsworth decried our concern for worldly things in his poem “The World is Too Much With Us” when he wrote, “The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers….” Poet Maya Angelou called us to action when she said, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
That’s what 100 Thousand Poets for Change is all about. Poets in 95 countries from Nagoya to Mexico are participating in the largest poetry reading in history with over 500 individual events taking place simultaneously on Sat 9/24. Visible Voice Books in Tremont will host Cleveland’s 100 Thousand Poets for Change event on Sat 9/24 at 5:30PM. It’s like a time of prayer, in poetry.
The event hopes to bring about political and social change throughout the world. Attitudes about race, violence, environment, commercialism, religion, war, poverty, freedom and hate are challenged. Michael Rothenberg and Terri Carrion, with other poets and activists, are staging an event that can cause change around the world. “We have all become incredibly alienated in recent years,” says Rothenberg. He went on to talk about how we hardly know our neighbors. We lack connection. He went on to say, “We need to feel this kind of global solidarity. I think it will be empowering.”
Cleveland-area poets, including Kazim Ali, Catherine Criswell, Sarah Gridley, David Lucas, and Phil Metres, will lead a night of poetry. An open mic segment invites every other would-be poet with a desire to find peace and love for mankind and the earth to step up and have his or her say for change. Music by The Commonwealth will close the night. A portion of the evening’s proceeds with benefit the Cleveland Nonviolence Network and the Peace Show.
Come out for a night that incites change and be part of the modern activist movement. Visible Voice Books at 1023 Kenilworth Cleveland, http://VisibleVoiceBooks.com, hosts 100 Thousand Poets for Change on Sat 9/24 from 5:30-7:30PM.
Claudia Taller’s book Ohio’s Lake Erie Wineries was just released by Arcadia Publishing. Find out more about the book by going to http://OhioLakeErieWineries.blogspot.com and order it through Claudia by sending an e-mail to claudia.taller@yahoo.com.