Reflection on Poetry Plaza reading

https://youtu.be/iiNdrDx_FL0?si=0zB1w4BBlDrHBxY9

Recently, I was lucky to work with a man in my neighborhood who considers himself an 'provocateur' of the arts, Leopoldo, to record a reading of my poetry at the Poetry Plaza, a little spot to the side of the walk to sit and read poetry. There's a Little Free Poetry Library and a Poetry Pole on which folks can tack a poem for someone who comes by later. I chose to read the first 103 of a practice I have undertaken to write 10,000 "haiku". The reason I put haiku in quotes is because part of my goal will be to eventually learn some Japanese, enough to begin a practice of writing haiku in Japanese, but for the time being I write in English and Spanish. As I understand it, much of the depth of the form is lost in translation. Hence the quotes. That being said, the beginning of this daily poetry practice has been, so far, an interesting process. I have the feeling that the biggest revelations of the practice will become clear somewhere closer to the 10,000 mark than the 180 something I'm currently at, but I am proud to even get to this point. It has been a challenge on certain days, and I have been far from perfect. But back to the reading: I decided I would divide the work into cantos of 100ish verses each, so hence reading the first 103. I think the cantos will be divided into three main themes: Deepening Residence, Trickster, and a third that is yet to make itself known. Perhaps it will be inspired by the tradition of death haiku, and be Death Verses. The canto I read in the recording will be called Follow the Birds, and I think there will be some similar ones to follow: Follow the Salmon, Follow the Dolphins, Follow the Bears. Perhaps we will even see some crossover in the themes with a Follow the Raven. The act of the reading aloud of the verses in succession brought them to life in a new way for me. I have been contemplating the development of a ritual to conduct each day before writing that verse, and there are some verses in that first section that I can recite as the start of the development of that ritual. I am glad the opportunity to record was very much a local one, tied to this neighborhood and the dirt and hills that holds it all up. During the recording the only human audience was Leopoldo, who was recording, and my partner Savannah (thank you for the support), and one passing couple. Due to the limited human audience, it felt very much like I was reading to the surrounding trees, flowers, and hills. A small step in a practice of deepening residence. I am grateful, again, to Leopoldo for the opportunity, to Sav for coming with and always supporting this part of my life, to the people who have always stewarded this place, Duwamish and more, and to the place I am trying to make myself a part of.