Poetry reading celebrates Earth Day, Poetry Month

Some people honor Earth Day by planting trees while others implement more eco-friendly habits into their lives.

Several Bloomington residents took a different route to observe April, which is National Poetry Month and the month of Earth Day celebrations, with “Readings for Our Earth,” an open-mic poetry reading night at Patricia’s Wellness Arts Café and Quilter’s Comfort Teas Saturday.

Attendees felt a strong connection between poetry and nature.

“There’s something about looking closely at nature that moves me to poetry,” reading night co-host Peggy Squires said. “Something about the intention to write poetry makes me focus on what I see in nature.”

The event’s readings focused on themes of nature and the environment. They were a mixture of original works and selected works from notable poets such as Adrienne Rich and William Stafford.

Against a backdrop of a colorful quilt and bright artwork, Patricia Coleman, owner of the café, read a variety of her own poems, which focused on topics such as marigold blossoms and berries.

Coleman said she found inspiration for her poems from a variety of natural locations, including the woods behind her home and Yellowwood State Forest.

“But you could be anywhere and a poem could pop out,” she said.

Coleman, who opened the café in October, said “Readings for Our Earth” was part of the HART Rock Poetry Series.

Coleman said the goal of HART Rock is to “be an open mic and open to the voices of the community. It’s open to poetry, prose, storytelling, people playing music and singing songs.”

She said she wants it to be similar to a ceilidh, a traditional Gaelic social gathering in which community members meet to sing songs and share stories to stay connected.

“It would be so nice to have people come and play like that and present things and share and just be together like that,” Coleman said. “We’re really open because we would love to hear everyone’s voice.”

Coleman said people new to poetry are welcome at the readings and can gain skills transferable to the classroom.

“Whatever your major is, there’s so much writing you’re going to be doing,” she said. “Come out and listen to poetry and hear how poetry sounds, and taking even small bits of that into your writing will enhance any writing you make.”

Bloomington resident Tonia Matthews said he agreed.

“When you’re at college, you’ve got all together in one place all of these possible experiences to have,” Matthews said. “Later in your life, you may not have all of this theater, music and dance in reach. Try poetry and look out for poetry readings and go to them. It will be a new experience.”

FUture HART ROCK poetry events
HART Rock Poetry events take place on the fourth Friday of each month at Patricia’s Wellness Arts Café and Quilter’s Comfort Teas. Each event has a theme, and each presenter has three minutes to share his or her favorite poem or original work.
“Mother Words”
WHEN 7 p.m. May 25
“Summer Sounds”
WHEN 7 p.m. June 22