We came in from the dark and cold for Café Muse again on
Monday, November 4th. Friendship Heights Village Center hosted Hailey Leithauser
and Chad Davidson for Word Works' monthly poetry reading.
The evening started with our guest
pianist David Uffelman playing fun, popular songs such as “Yesterday” by the
Beatles and “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les
Miserables.
Next up
was our first featured reader, Hailey Leithauser. Her poetry discussed pieces
of life that were quite accessible for everyone, such as a Halloween ghost
story and the cycle of seasons. The elegance combined with the simplicity in
her poetry felt warmly familiar, as it nodded toward what poetry used to be and
often is not anymore. She used remarkably sweet-sounding phrases such as “sea
of peonies” as well as clever palindromes like “Naomi I moan.”
Our
second featured reader was Chad Davidson. His poetry took ordinary, everyday
experiences such as shopping for “my impulse buys” at Target and turned them
into glorious occasions and/or commentaries on the commercialized state of
America. He also switched from different times and places in one of his works,
creating an intriguing perspective with Star Wars references interwoven
throughout. His dry humor and charismatic expressions made his reading quite
enjoyable.
After
the featured readings, several other people read poetry for the open mic
segment of the program. We had several pieces written in unique structures for
workshops and a variety of topics.
Many
thanks to our featured readers and the others who read! We enjoyed the pleasant
tone of the night at the start of another week. Be sure to come out for our
December Café Muse event on Monday, December 2nd at 7:00 PM to hear poetry by
Mary-Sherman Willis and pieces of works by novelist Halvor Aakhus!
