Good evening readers.
I haven't blogged for over a month. I apologize. It has been emotional.
I haven't found myself either inspired or with the desire to actually put a pen to paper in this time. That said, I have decided that a kick up the behind is what was necessary and perhaps a new day would suit my style, so I've switched back to Mondays in the hope that being first on each new topic would be the way to go...
Last week then, I was in the privileged position of co-hosting the final night from the Number 5. I'll be honest with you- letting Colin to do the first half and me the second seemed a great plan. I wish I'd gone first in all honesty- I found myself bumbling and holding back the tears for what has been a great venue and a great event for so long all through the half and, though I was proud to be the last out of the doors of the Number 5, it felt somehow wrong that I wasn't accompanied by some of the faces we've grown accustomed to over the years.
A poetry night is the sum of its parts. More than on a good night. Last Friday felt alien in that so many of those people were missing but, in the defiant spirit I've come to know from the group, it proved a fine send off; Big Charlie closed the event with his 'It's the grit' piece' you may have noticed on The Guardian's website, Howard stepped up to the bill to give us the familiarity we perhaps lacked and everyone in attendance pulled something out of their poetic hats to ensure that the event was a bang, not a fizzle. Blackpool even hosted World Championship Fireworks to ensure the timely closure was marked.
That said, a group of poets, like minded in their need to expose to public to rhyme crimes and vein opening verses, will continue. Work is going on behind the scenes to find a venue everyone will approve of and in this regard, many thanks go to those who are putting in more than their fair share of effort. I'm sure you will agree that Adele has gone far beyond the call of duty of late, stepping in to the HUGE shoes Ashley, Michelle, Vicky et al have left her in an organisational/steering capacity. Kudos to all of you and I sincerely hope to see you all back soon, wherever we may be.
To round off then, consider this a midnight appeal to all of you to support a group we've been so proud of in the past. On a theme of new perspectives, I find myself looking to what has gone in a celebration of what we've been, knowing that the future can both surpass and exceed all we've ever imagined.
I hope you will join us next month, wherever we may be. And for the part I've played, I just want to say thank you, all of you, for the opportunity.
With Thanks
And on that Friday night each month
We gather up, we have our lunch
We come to hear the spoken word
We're here, we've gathered with the herd
We've come to hear the here and now
The exposés of the great cash cows
The land of romance, young and free
The wildness, the uncertainty
We come to hear the great unwashed
Tell how no one seems to give a toss
And we watch as month by month they're quashed
Until someone finally pipes them off
And to hear the piper pipe, oh yay
We've come here just to hear them say
They're now in love, hard wired emotion
In poetry, such is their devotion
And to such true devotees, we give
A poetry night a need to live
So now, with Chester's, Number 5
Historic, we must stay alive
We dance to the tune of the human voice
With no metronome, but poetic choice
To all the rhythms of the soul
That leaves no gaps and fills the hole
Society left us in, we say
This is no goodbye but a proud hooray
And we live on, in not you or me
But in yet unwritten poetry
As a place to vent our spoken word
To mark in place in society, be heard
And for this, I say, I give my thanks
To the poets, please, just one more dance.
Thanks for reading,
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