The poetry reading at Prairie Lights on April 27, 2009 brought in a huge crowd. The seats were packed, and the aisles were filled with people sitting wherever they could find space. The presentation was supposed to start at 7:00, but at 7:10 they came in to say that it would be postponed until 7:30, but the crowd – a mix of young hipster students to older poetry enthusiasts – never ceased to give off their excited vibes.
There were three poets who read, Cole Swensen, James Galvin, and Mark Levine. Cole Swensen introduced the book by reading an introduction to the idea behind their anthology, American Hybrid. She spoke so clearly, and with such ease that I could not help but feel relaxed. After her introduction, she read a poem called “Insatiability,” which had a beautiful rhythm that kept the poem moving smoothly the entire time; there was no clear pattern or style that I could find, which was a consistent feature of all of the poems read. American Hybrid is a book of poems written in a mixture of stylistic patterns and forms, which gave the reading itself a lot of uniqueness. Swensen continued to awe us throughout the rest of her performance, whether she was reading a poem or wrapping up the night.
James Galvin’s presentation of his selected poems was wonderful. He seemed so comfortable in front of the huge audience that I, personally, was amazed at the immediately intimate feeling in the room. One poem that he read was titled “Nature Averts Her Eyes,” and I really enjoyed listening to it, although I am not positive that I completely understood it. It sounded a lot like a stream of consciousness from the perspective of “the fool.” Another poem he read was written in the form of a list; each number on the list was different, and each was just as confusing as the next one. My favorite, number 2, was a repetitive mess of sentences, but each repeat had some part of a word taken out, until it was completely incomprehensible on the last cycle.
Mark Levine presented his selections in such a way that he seemed to be relating to each person in the room individually. He appeared a bit nervous when he first got up to the microphone, but after some time he just seemed to be carefully considering his words before he said them. He introduced his first poem as an assignment that was completed after dropping acid; this unique introduction to a poem gave an interesting, and quite clear point of view to listen to the poem from. The rest of the poems he read were not his own, but they covered a large range of subjects and styles; from the personification of nature to a repetitive motion, the selections that he read were presented beautifully and, again with so much ease that it felt like he was talking only to me.
Cole Swensen closed the reading just as she opened it. She read her own selection of poems from the anthology, and the way she presented these poems really emphasized her own, unique voice; she paused a little bit between words, letting the meaning of each word sink in before she rushed on to the next one. One poem that she read, “Yawn,” consisted of metaphors for a yawn, from a snake’s gigantic jaw to the ownership – or lack thereof – of a yawn.
This poetry reading was more than the cliché gathering of hip writers in a book store. The comfort of the readers, as well as the listeners, made sure not to intimidate anyone out of enjoying the poetry of American Hybrid.
-Suzi O'Hare
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