Last night poets of all shapes and colors performed at R.B. Winning Coffee Co. as part of the Poets For Peace demonstration that is a nationwide response to Laura Bush's cancellation of a poetry reading at the White House.
"Poetry and the American Voice" was to be a reading of works by poets Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Walt Whitman and others. The first lady canceled the show after hearing reports that Sam Hamill, one of the invited poets, was urging the other speakers to protest the looming war during the event.
"It came to the attention of the First Lady's Office that some invited guests want to turn what is intended to be a literary event into a political forum," according to a White House statement. "While Mrs. Bush understands the right of all Americans to express their political views, this event was designed to celebrate poetry."
In response, the United Poets Coalition, also known as Poets for Peace, called for communities of poets from around the world to hold their own readings in protest of the war on the day formerly designated for the "Poetry and the American Voice" reading at the White House.
From Quezon City in the Philippines to Kapolei, Hawaii to Bristol in the U.K., over 150 known readings will be taking place.
In an interview with the Daily Lobo the morning before the show, poet and organizer Danny Solis made some predictions about the show.
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"It's going to be very different than a regular poetry and beer show," Solis said. "It's going to be very focused on the peace movement and community. We already have 25 people signed up to read."
For the participants of the show, art and political voice can definitely be one and the same, especially those who come from the slam tradition like Solis. Though some poets criticize the very notion of mixing politics and art, Solis feels that poetry in particular lends itself as a convenient forum for commentary.
"People who don't have to write political poetry are free from politics because they're in the dominant position in our environment," Solis said. "Who's the voice of the straight white male? Well, that's congress."
Solis also pointed out that art and politics have always been tightly entwined, recalling Goya's depiction of social events in his paintings and anti-war poets like Wilfred Owen who was a foot soldier in WWI.
"I feel that poetry, more than any other art, is a weapon, is a voice for the voiceless" Solis said. "Don't get me wrong, I believe the craft of poetry is important, but people start writing poetry because they have something to say."
Solis also works with kids in the Bernalillo Juvenile Detention Center, and his primary focus is to make them feel like they have a voice.
"They can't even have pen and pencils, but I always tell them the system can disarm you and take away your material possessions, but the one thing they can't take away from you is your voice and your intellect and your spirit," Solis said. "You always have that."
