| Author | Message | ||
| Emusing
Senior Member Username: emusing Post Number: 5953 Registered: 08-2003 |
At Green Lake, latest word in poetry is ... umbrellas The Green Lake Poetess, Amy Allin, visited Green Lake after a yearlong hiatus, sharing poetry and umbrellas with Seattle residents on Sunday, July 6. By Isaac Arnsdorf Seattle Times staff reporter PREV of NEXT BETTY UDESEN / THE SEATTLE TIMES On Sunday it had been a full year since Amy Allin had come to Green Lake to talk with and read poetry to passers-by. Related Archive | Bringing poetry to the people For those who missed the Green Lake Poetess after her yearlong hiatus, she was back Sunday with a bold new display. To celebrate the anniversary of the end of her last public project -- in which she set up a small wooden table along the northwest edge of Green Lake and read poetry to curious passers-by -- the Poetess, also known as Amy Allin, 41, of Ballard, returned to her old haunt with a bevy of decorated umbrellas, each inscribed with a memorable verse. "Umbrellas and Seattle sort of go together," she said on the sunny and clear 68-degree day, standing barefoot underneath a big, black umbrella with black streamers. The goal of this project, like the last one, was to engage the public with poetry in unexpected ways. The visual presence was calculated to intrigue lakeside strollers in the hope of persuading them to carry one of the poetry parasols around the lake. All were decorated with words of poets -- from e.e. cummings to Jared Leising. People were more reluctant to participate than she had hoped, but at least she piqued their curiosity, she said. She got the biggest rise out of passers-by when one of the umbrellas threatened to blow away and people scurried to help recover them. Allin, a resident artist at Studio-Current on Capitol Hill, said she wants her work to combine poetry with visual and performance art to broaden its appeal. "It's the intersection of people and poetry, to find an interface that is fun and accessible," she said. "People are afraid of it still." Just then, Clinton Bliss rounded the path in a tie-dye shirt and Rollerblades, wielding a ruby umbrella after circling the lake. Bliss, who met Allin a year and a half ago during her Poetess stint, had helped her decorate the umbrellas on Saturday night. Bliss was in on the show, but it caught Sue Apperson as a pleasant surprise. On a walk with her husband, just enjoying the weather, she stopped at the art/poetry exhibit. Besides her Studio-Current gig, Allin runs a monthly poetry reading at Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Center. Day to day, she works in a Ballard boatyard to pay the bills. Allin has no plans to reinstitute her weekly poetry presence at the park, but she may do sporadic events. She comes to Green Lake because it's less touristy than other parks and has a welcoming, safe and casual vibe, she said. On Sunday, she said the most common thing she heard was, "This is why I live in this city -- because things like this happen." Isaac Arnsdorf: 206-464-2397 or iarnsdorf@seattletimes.com   Word Walker Press; Moonday Poetry; Kyoto Journal Education should be the process of helping everyone to discover his uniqueness. --Leo Buscaglia | ||
| Rania S. Watts
Intermediate Member Username: cementcoveredcherries Post Number: 950 Registered: 04-2008 |
Dear E, What a great idea, I think that would have been such a fun activity for a Sunday afternoon. Thank you for sharing this, Love, Rania S. Watts "You will hardly know who I am or what I mean" ~ Walt Whitman Cement Covered Cherries | ||
| Gary Blankenship
Moderator Username: garydawg Post Number: 24497 Registered: 07-2001 |
Wonderful, wonderful as the NYC Falls. Sigh. Smiles. Gary Celebrate Walt with Gary: http://www.poetrykit.org/pkl/tw10/tw4conte.htm | ||
| Emusing
Senior Member Username: emusing Post Number: 5954 Registered: 08-2003 |
Oh yeah Rania. Seattle does poetry big time. I saw Mary Oliver there and stood in line two hours (the crowd wrapped around the block). And you gotta love the attitude: "This is why I live in this city -- because things like this happen." Gar you're just a boat ride across the water. How lucky you are. One day (she says looking out from the 41st floor of her downtown office)...I'm gonna ditch this town! Hope I don't have to wait until retirement.  e Word Walker Press; Moonday Poetry; Kyoto Journal Education should be the process of helping everyone to discover his uniqueness. --Leo Buscaglia | ||
| nia sunset
Advanced Member Username: nia Post Number: 2447 Registered: 04-2006 |
WOW! This is so beautiful... so beautiful. How I loved it dearest E, I wished to be there, the idea with umbrella and all these flying ribbons and poems and poets... they are all so beautiful. Thank you for sharing wish us, with my love, nia  Butterfly Wings of Nia "Carry the beauties;wash the badnesses with your poetical spirit" | ||
| Emusing
Senior Member Username: emusing Post Number: 5963 Registered: 08-2003 |
Yes isn't it? The red umbrellas remind me of you. Don't ask me why! I am enjoying the pocketbook "Poetry of Place" that Kath gave me called Istanbul. Did you see it? A collection of poems and stories. Beautiful. It will inspire me. But that is my problem. Inspiration lurks everywhere and not enough time to write it all down. xo e Word Walker Press; Moonday Poetry; Kyoto Journal Education should be the process of helping everyone to discover his uniqueness. --Leo Buscaglia | ||
| nia sunset
Advanced Member Username: nia Post Number: 2462 Registered: 04-2006 |
Yes I know it dearest... Kath, you, and then you are all, so amazing spirits and poets, what I can do without you all. How much I love you and this poetical committee, yes maybe some of you I havent met yet, but the essence of this poetry world has a great power and touches that standing peacefully and beautifully. There are million doors/windows that carrying us into a wonderful voyages and worlds that we all need... Million thanks for all these sharing. The inspiration... Oh dearest E, time never being enough for us, and yes, dropping into our daily life and... and we never know when and from where the inspiration will come... Just comes and hits our heart. And makes us, Emusing, Nia, Rania, Jim, M, Rod, Kevin, Gary, Susan, Brenda, Kathryn, laz, Jane, Cate, Sergio, David, Kath, Lisa, Arunansu,....and all others, my beautiful poet friends. have a nice day, with my love, nia Butterfly Wings of Nia "Carry the beauties;wash the badnesses with your poetical spirit" |
