By Carol Tannenhauser
On Saturday, September 24, at 1 pm, a special event will take place at the 91st Street Community Garden in Riverside Park, between West 90th & West 91st Streets, adjacent to the Hippo Playground.
A group of poets, known as the Thursday Morning Poets, will be reading and planting their poetry in the garden, in solidarity with 100 Thousand Poets for Change, a global movement that began in California more than a decade ago. Their mission is to “use the intersection of art and activism to promote peace and sustainability around the world.”
But will they really “plant” their poems?
“With a little poetic license,” answered Luvon Roberson, a Thursday Morning Poet. “Our poems are each one page and laminated to withstand the weather. Each poet will read her (or his/our one male poet) original poem — using only voice, no other amplification, so as to respect nature/environment — before posting the poem on the fence surrounding the garden flora. Following this public reading, passersby will be able to welcome the first days of fall with a poetry walk, enjoying poems as garden flora dries, withers, falls, bringing change, ushering in the new season.”
Strangers until 2021, the Thursday Morning Poets met online. Writers in the group have varied styles and themes in their poetry, but there is a strong emphasis on social justice issues, the environment and stories that spin out of their personal life histories. Members who are multilingual often include other languages in their writing.
To contact, email: thursdaymorningpoets@gmail.com
I great group, know them well.