Grace Pilkington, June's Guest Poet took the Poetry Café audience on a rollercoaster ride that reminded us all of the complete exhaustion and exhilaration of life; it's ugly secrets and its hidden joys.
Grace read from her collection: I Have No Idea What I'm Doing' Poems on Pregnancy and Motherhood. The tenderness that you'd expect from such a collection was infused with a furious passion that was captivating. The hesitancy the certainty, the euphoria and the terror - all beautifully and powerfully delivered. The comic absurdity of life was raw and hilariously familiar. Grace also read poems of caution, empowerment and of affirmation.
'Sugar Coated' and 'I'm Sorry' were masterclasses in messaging to women (and men) and 'Love Letter to Hastings' was a touching and heartfelt thank you to the town.
A wonderful poet with a sparkling delivery in performance and a stunningly memorable collection.
The evening was full of insightful and moving poems from our open mic-ers: Sylvie's 'Song of Sameness' and Philomena's 'Walking Stardust' grounded us in our shared humanity. Larry and William raised the scholarly bar with senryu's human foibles and poetry on Orwell's 'All Empire is Theft'. Hazel struck the election spark and Mike in his inimitably musical fashion, fanned those political flames. Marjorie's 'Berwick Church' gently showed us a place that 'joins the living with the dead'; Peter swathed us in 'Midsummer' and Di placed us all as Mona Lisa. Mark recalled the voraciousness of stardom in 'Paparazzi' and Stacy reminded us of the weight we carry in 'Coat of Cares'.
Grace Pilkington's pregnancy and motherhood collection, I Have No Idea What I'm Doing' can be found at Quadrant books:
and all good book outlets.
Grace herself can be found on social media 'notatraceofgrace'
Many thanks to Grace, our audience and our open mic-ers. We'd be more than happy to have your company next month on the 9th July with our Guest Poet, Soo Doe.
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