by daithí
Well, as you can maybe tell, I have a hard time expressing myself verbally. Sometimes I get a little stuck. In my head. And I’ve been a musician, a singer for bands for a couple of decades, off and on, which involves writing, and it involves writing poetically, but different than writing poetry. So I kind of shifted, into poetry without music and did both in tandem for a bit. And during the pandemic, I started taking some workshops online during the days that I had off and had time. And learned. —PSOV President Joy
On Monday, June 30th, Joy joined me at Cafe Noa to talk about poetry and how she became interested in such a craft. Before Joy entered the realm of poetry, she was working with sound and rhythm through bands. Then when Covid closed most gigs down, she went on-line and began to explore poetry with an on-line poetry instructor, Desireé Dellagiacomo. And she stayed the course, reading an assortment of poetry. She learned to take the time to approach poetry that she at first didn’t understand by looking at it several times.
One of the first poetry readings that Joy attended was hosting Sharon Olds and the yet-to-be Vermont Poet Laureate, Bianca Stone. She came away from the experience with one driving question: why weren’t there places in Central Vermont to share their poetry and hear others?
Feeling the need to create an oasis for poetry–especially by the vulnerable and the invincible–Joy set up two sites. The Front catered to a mix of poets, while Fox Market featured LGBTQIA+. They both started about 4 years ago.
If you haven’t been to either site, Joy begins each reading by a selection of another poet’s. If there is more than one reader, she may toss a few more poems interspersed throughout. On rare occasions, she will read her own poetry. In all of the readings, she welcomes both PSOV members and nonmembers. She also makes a point of inviting the more timid to approach the podium.
When I asked her about Wolf and Rabbit, the name she selected for readings at the front, Joy told me it was based upon a not-so-well-written poem she had composed. We all have rabbit and wolf qualities: rabbit is timid, wolf is aggressive.
We have been fortunate to have Joy lead us at PSOV–where the need to accept, embrace, and understand different points of view is essential.