The Imagine Nation of the Peoples Republic of Poetry invites
everyone to a Poetry Picnic at the Cobourg
Ecology Garden
on the afternoon of Canada Day, July 1.
Cobourg Poet Laureate, Ted Amsden, will lead the way in the
Canada Day Parade. Just as political dignitaries get convertibles to wave to
the crowd, so also the poetical dignitaries of the Imagine Nation. Our Cobourg Poet
Laureate will be ensconced in a convertible Porsche, a vehicle that is a clear
demonstration of poetency: power, grace, presence.
He will be followed by a pick-up truck holding a sound
system blasting out Johnny Tillotson’s early 60’s hit, Poetry In Motion.
Rockin’ behind the truck will be a contingent of poets and poetry lovers
bearing poetic placards of unbridled word wit.
Canada Day Parades across this great nation contain bands,
acrobats, dancers, musicians, float artists, etc. For no known reason, poetry
and poets have never been in such a Parade. Cobourg will be the first. From the
prosaic to the poetic.
The poetry shelves of our libraries are the least visited
shelves. Music concerts, art gallery openings bring in the people, but not
poetry readings regardless whether the venue is a backroom bar or faux salon.
If people don’t come to poetry, then poetry must come to the people. Poetry
takes to the streets.
Poetry began as an oral art. Narratives were passed down
from generation to generation, and communities noticed who had The Eloquence.
Cobourg has been an exemplary community in recognizing the place of poetic
eloquence within the community. The Cobourg
Ecology Garden
provides the serenity of a natural environ meant for oral poetry presentations.
Cobourg’s first Poet Laureate, Eric Winter, (now Emeritus)
will read his poetry, which weaves words
with both the intricate delicacy and strength of spider webs. It captures your
attrention. Mr Winter has been the seed bed for the growth of poetry in this
community.
Cobourg Poet Laureate, Ted Amsden, will also be performing
at the Garden. Mr Amsden’s poetry is not your regular rhyme schemer. His poetry
is enriched with his animated, oral performance, and his ability to adopt
performance to whatever any particular subject requires.
Linda Hutsell-Manning, renown for her children’s stories,
has made a solid claim as an adult novelist with the recent publication of That
Summer In Franklin. Her poetry has a wide range of presentation, from
child-charm to adult muscularity that she handles with wise adroitness.
There will be an open mic for any other passing poets in the
community. Cobourg’s poets will also be selling their books. A bard table will
be set up next to the Cobourg Ecology
Garden for the Bard Sale.
The great Persian poet, Omar Khayyam, (1048–1131)
penned the following well-known
quatrain:
"A Book of Verses underneath the
Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!"
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!"
Almost a thousand years later, his verse remains ensconced
in the hearts of romantics everywhere, So, come to the Poetry Picnic at the Cobourg
Ecology Garden,
an oasis of wilderness in our urban sprawl. Spread a blanket. Bring a flask of
fluids. Bring apples, oranges, celery, olives, bananas, all sorts of vegetation
to eat. But most of all; bring your Imagination.
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