Local Poets John Burciaga and Elizabeth Rose were featured on “The Morning Show” August 22nd
August 26, 2024August 26, 2024
Local Poets John Burciaga and Elizabeth Rose were featured on “The Morning Show” August 22nd
This week I’m hosting a return visit from poets John Burciaga and Elizabeth Rose.
John is the initiator of Poetry in Public Places, and give an update on the success and growth of his mission to increase access to and appreciation of poetry by placing easily readable posters of poems in public settings, including the Firehouse Center for the Arts and NU Kitchen, among others. He will also describe Poetry and Pizza, a popular monthly gathering of lovers of both at the Senior Center.
Elizabeth, of Blooming Rose Therapy in Georgetown, is a clinical social worker as well as a poet. She will talk about her upcoming four-session Gratitude Series, to be held at the Senior Center on Tuesdays starting on September 3rd. She’ll describe how the sessions integrate poetry with meditation, writing, and storytelling, and will explain how poetry “directly deposits into our gratitude bank,” producing physiological effects that show reduced stress and enhanced well-being. For more information visit https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/groups/the-gratitude-series-georgetown-ma/246803
I also invited John and Elizabeth each to bring along a poem they find themselves returning to over and over again, because it bring them joy or inspiration or solace…or whatever it is that keeps them returning (see my choice below).
My Choice:
What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade
By Brad Aaron Modlin
Mrs. Nelson explained how to stand still and listen
to the wind, how to find meaning in pumping gas,
how peeling potatoes can be a form of prayer. She took
questions on how not to feel lost in the dark
After lunch she distributed worksheets
that covered ways to remember your grandfather’s
voice. Then the class discussed falling asleep
without feeling you had forgotten to do something else—
something important—and how to believe
the house you wake in is your home. This prompted
Mrs. Nelson to draw a chalkboard diagram detailing
how to chant the Psalms during cigarette breaks,
and how not to squirm for sound when your own thoughts
are all you hear; also, that you have enough.
The English lesson was that I am
is a complete sentence.
And just before the afternoon bell, she made the math equation
look easy. The one that proves that hundreds of questions,
and feeling cold, and all those nights spent looking
for whatever it was you lost, and one person
add up to something.
