Local Poets at One More Page Books

Who sits around and reads poetry?  Sadly, almost no one except students in poetry classes, but with the huge winter storm upon us this weekend in the Mid-Atlantic, it seems like a great time to do so.

Last night I spent a great hour listening to two local poets read from their work.  The reading took place at One More Page Books in Falls Church, Virginia, a small independent bookstore that is getting ready to celebrate its fifth year in business.  This is remarkable to me as, for all its cozy ambience (They sell wine too.), friendly staff and decent collection of contemporary books for all ages, everything is cover price.  It’s hard to spend a lot of money there when you know you can get the same titles on amazon for half the price; even Barnes and Noble offers a discount.  Still, this little bookstore has managed to thrive, perhaps in part due to their constant calendar of events, including some big name authors.  On this particular night, sadly the crowd was about 15, consisting mainly of family and friends.  We were there because Sandra Beasley, one of the poets, was my husband’s student many years ago and she has done workshops for me with teachers.  We like her poetry and we like to hear her perform it.  “Perform” is really the correct word as she speaks with intensity and humor.  Sandra has managed to make a living as a working poet, having published several volumes of her work as well as a successful memoir entitled Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl, (highly recommended – a composite of personal experiences and research into food allergies).  She has won numerous awards and frequently works as a writer in residence for colleges and high schools.  Sass Brown, the other poet, was new to me.  She too has won numerous poetry awards and been published in many literary journals. 

I confess that Sandra’s new collection is a bit more challenging than her previous works.  The centerpiece of the book are poems based on an 1853 work, The Travelers Vade Mecum in which the original writer created code sentences that people could use to secretly communicate.  Sandra writes poems derived from selected lines in the old work.  Example:  “Line #6459:  ‘The Country is Quite Mountainous.’  What follows is a delightful poem about “the goats of Kaua’i. . ./No one has told them them they are not moutain goats.”  My favorite poems by her come from a volume entitled I Was the Jukebox, in which the poet gives voice to objects and animals who cannot speak on their own.  If you haven’t met her work before, I highly suggest starting with these.  Check out Sandra on her blog: http://sbeasley.blogspot.com

Sass Brown’s poetry is also a recommendation.  Rooted in everyday consumerism, poems like “Letter to the Better Business Bureau” focus on our fixation on owning things.  I loved the poem “Layaway Heart” in which the speaker shops for hours, putting item after item on hold but never making a purchase.  Billy Collins, a former U.S. poet laureate, talks about how all good poems have a lifting off point when they cease to be about the subject at hand and become about something larger and more universal.  We see this in “Layaway Heart” :

           

“What thing doesn’t

want to be stroked

to life, to be

considered by
hands?  A sweater

can mimic an

embrace, the way

the slub of silk

learns the body’s

curves.”

  So, check out these poets.  Check out some poetry.  And if you live in the area, check out One More Page Books.