Our West Seattle Favorite Poem reader was Eva Deluba from our local Mud Bay Pet Store. She was a fantastic reader! Her poem was "Self Love" by Rupi Kaur and the audience was truly touched by her honesty and self-reflection as she talked about why this was her favorite poem.
The night ended with a writing exercise lead by Rachel. Drawing on inspiration from Neruda's questions, the audience was instructed to write a question starting with "What is ..." on one side of an index card. The question could be about anything. The cards were collected and redistributed with the blank side up. Without looking at the other side of the card, we were then instructed to write and answer to a question. The cards were then redistributed and we each read our card, though we ourselves had not written them. The audience loved it!
A sampling:
What is your worst nightmare?
It is the color of the sky seen through the last dragonfly's wing after it has left a high school cafeteria where all the kids are laughing except for the future poet.
What is the most beer allowed to drink daily?
It is who we are, what we do and do not know.
What is the reason for all these tears?
It is bright red, like the flower in the planter outside the coffee house.