Victoria Dym
In last week’s issue we shared a smorgasbord of haiku contributed by our members to celebrate National Poetry Month. Before that we experienced live readings performed by more poets at a January Open Mic event. With today’s issue we return to live material, this time presented by the host of the Open Mic Night, Victoria Dym. As with our last mixed-media poetry blog the written poems appear below the video so you, the reader, can experience her writing skills as well as the spontaneous performance she delivered.
The above photo was part of a 2021 National Poetry Month poster competition for middle and high school students. Lauren H., at that time a 10th grade student in Hanover, New Hampshire, discussed her creative process illustrating the poem , “For Keeps” by U. S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. Here is an excerpt of her description. — Editor
“…The experience of looking upwards into the pitch-black sky and just seeing the stars spread out above oneself is one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences that a person can have with nature. I wanted to show that experience with my artwork…..This poem acknowledges that despite how alone we can be in the world, we can form meaningful relationships that surpass the boundaries of language. In my drawing, at first glance, the two beings seem lonely and isolated in the dark of night, but upon deeper inspection, the person and the horse are companions who are truly appreciating nature together.”
