Poetry in the Air
'Spring into Words' poetically brings local artists together
By CINDY GONZALES
The Coffeehouse and Pub’s honey-colored walls pulsed with the beat of an African drum and a soulful harmonica Wednesday night during the Poetry Jam’s “Spring Into Words.”
Saying hello to your neighbor was how the night began. Neighbors included students, faculty and staff sitting at lacquered wooden tables together sharing chocolates, shortbread cookies and valentine conversation hearts.
(Top) Crowd favorite Dennis Horn reads a poem reminding the crowd to avoid the trappings of materalism. Photo by Joseph Hollak
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The dark green carpeting and warm atmosphere of the room were filled with the alluring scents of coffee, teas and spiced apple cider rising up to the exposed twilight-gray-painted ducting.
As poets took the stage, four spotlights illuminated each artist as they stood in front of the microphones, creating a golden shimmer of light that danced on their shoulders against the dark glass backdrop.
The first ensemble of two men, one dressed in white and the other in black, played a romantic piece together on their guitars. The music began quiet, soft and sensual. The tempo gained fervor and then transformed into a ferocious flamenco beat, creating a sound that made the audience shift in their seats and listen intently to the loud, powerful, pounding piece.
Two ladies sang about a man who was beautiful, but now is gone and will never return.
A poet crooned to his “chocolate butterfly” muse, while another poet searched for a cure to the “1,000 lonelinesses” she suffered.
Two women, dressed in black, who both co-wrote a book about Fresno’s worst mass murder, performed an “Ode to Elizabeth Wesson”.
One woman cried out to the audience, the other talked into her cell phone about the details of the pending case, saying the crime was so horrible it made her lose her appetite when she opened a bag of potato chips.
The audience participated in Women’s Resource Center director Francine Oputa’s performance. A self-described “actress who tries to act like she can sing,” Oputa captivated the audience with her charisma and talent.
Oputa first sang a civil rights era song, then surprised the audience members by separating them into two sections and had each side of the room sing, “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me round.”
The poetry and songs of the evening intertwined the audience and artists into a collective group of admirers of the gifts and fulfillment of simple words that were shared among friends.
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