Standing in the queue at Birmingham’s branch of Waterstones, I checked my ticket for the event (again). It was only then I realised that I booked back in August – two months in advance to secure a seat at this incredible Verve event.
Hosting the evening was Casey Bailey, an amazing poet and hilarious host. Bailey did an excellent job and I’m looking forward to reading his collection ‘Adjusted’.
Next up THE Cynthia Miller. Her beautiful poems about identity and homesickness were subtly powerful. She’s also incredibly creative and innovative. Her final cutting room floor poem, consisted of words and phrases that had been edited out of another poem. Although they didn’t make the final cut elsewhere, in this poem they had their own meaning, took on their own life and created their own impact.
I first briefly met Roy McFarlane at Raymond Antrobus’ ‘The Perseverence’ book launch when I was holding the flowers: https://wendyliciouswriters.com/random-act-of-kindness/ During the Q & A Roy asked Raymond about the shape, form and page structure of his poems, in his booming, soulful deep voice. To hear his beautiful voice read his own poetry at the Terrance Hayes event was amazing. Looking forward to the launch of his next collection ‘The Healing Next Time’.
After an evening of incredible poetry and incredible poets in their own right, Terrance Hayes took to the stage. Hayes asked for no clapping between each section and each poem he read – this helped him, and the audience, to keep in the flow of his work and his reading. However, I almost had to sit on my hands to resist the urge to clap or click.
Hayes’ poetry speaks of identity, what it is to be a black man – a black man in America. His poetry is also fiercely political. His wit seeps through his poems making the audience smile or laugh but pulls you back in right to the serious and important points he makes.
Terrance Hayes began by reciting two of Wanda Coleman’s poems, saying that his own poetry seeks to reach that level. In my opinion, Terrance Hayes has reached – if not surpassed – that to which he is writing towards.
The subjects within his poems could become one area for admiration and analysis but it is the form and structure of the poems in the collection ‘American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin’ that must be admired and analysed too.
The opening lines of each poem become a poem themselves; Hayes brushed this off as ‘I like to play with the contents page too’. His contents page becomes a smack you around the head with a powerful point that makes you nod and suppress a clap or click. His contents page makes you laugh. His contents page makes you remember love and loss. His contents page makes reminds you why you fell in and out of love.
Question: ‘What do you call a visionary?’
Answer: Terrance Hayes.