On Saturday, August 2nd, I was part of Evie Ivy’s celebration of summer in her “Dance of the Word” event at Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village, NYC. I knew others on the program, and I was looking forward to it. Plus there’s belly dancing at these events. I love watching belly dancing. I find it mesmerizing.
Evie weaved the poets in between music and dance. Fred Simpson played his drum and sang Summertime. I’d heard him read his poetry before but had no idea of his other talents. Nice surprise. Other poets included David Elsasser, Peggy Fitzgerald, Evie Ivy, Eugene Ring, Patricia Carragon, and Madeline Artenberg. Cleopatra Amaris performed a sword dance and later a traditional belly dance as did Evie. A fantastic pianist — Paul Knopf — played for us, and the room went silent, the kind that follows a gasp. What a treat that was.
I read five poems. I have grown more comfortable doing this, probably because doing stand-up is the high-anxiety thing for me these days. Out of the five poems, two of them refer to oral sex in raw language. I was a little concerned how that would be received. Well, it was received with lots of laughter. That felt really good.
Before leaving, I realized I hadn’t gotten a program. They were on tables, so I went to a table and asked the man there if I could have the program. He said, “Of course. You were the star of the show.” Maybe he was just flattering me, but it felt good.
Five of us went out afterwards to an Indian restaurant on Bleecker Street where new flavors entertained my palate.
Wonderful hearing and seeing you again. You were da bomb!
from Patricia of Bensonhurst, BROOKLYN 🙂
Thanks, Patricia. I enjoyed hearing you too, sitting at the same table, and going out to eat afterwards. Felt good.