Due to last minute difficulties, Pratibha Castle was unable to join us as Guest Poet this month, but the wonderfully talented Nicki Watts stepped in to cover and what a show stopper she was!
From infectious participation poetry and a hilarious contemplation on the size of boobs to some beautifully poignant tributes to our servicemen across the wars, Nicki showed a wide ranging repertoire of tones and talent that had our audience hanging on her words, delighted by her modesty and basking in the sheer joy of her performances.
Her poetry pamphlet was on sale from which 100% of the proceeds go to charities supporting military servicemen. (I'll put the reference and availability on here as soon as I have contacted Nicki.)
She made the poetry totally relatable and accessible to all, making her debut at the Poetry Cafe an utter success. We hope to hear more of her poetry as we go forward into 2025!
Apart from Nicki herself, we had an array of stars that shone for our enjoyment. Politics seemed to be ever present in the nights open mic performances from King Charles to Donald Trump, government and the impact on people was put under the spotlight by Amanda Hills: "See beneath the scales of the monstrous imposter" and Keith Willson's incantation "Brain of Truss" and evil 'Mwaa, ha, ha, ha!' Mr John's "The Teller of Lies that People Want to Hear" and Mike H's Remembrance Poem "Little have we progressed from out the cave" to name just a few.
The beauty of a mother's love in the face of her child's illness was explored by Stella in her poem 'Absorb': "Let love seep into the fabric of your body" and Keith Drake was the personification of cool in his "As sharp as a dog tooth check / stylish vibe of the 60's optimism."
we had a raft of newbies this month who we hope to see become regulars and some old friends that we haven't welcomed in a while returned to wow us including: A J Sharma, Steel Magnolia - Happy, Robin, Dorian, and Tolu - whose poem on writer's block was genius!
Join us in December to hear Kevin Scully's wonderful set on the 10th December.
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