Calling all poets

Show your personality

Creatively speak

Haiku journalism aside, Three Sisters Books and Gifts will present a night of poetry at The Strand Theatre Wednesday featuring readings by three published poets and invites, encourages, and alliteratively asks local bards to recite works during an open-mic session.

“We have been pleasantly surprised with the number of local poets who have participated in our poetry nights.  The poets are encouraged to step out of their comfort zone by sharing their work with a warm and welcoming audience,” said Barbara Rogers, co-owner of Three Sisters Books and Gifts.

This semi-choreographed poetic jam will begin at 7 p.m. and all wordsmiths are metaphorically and literally encouraged to share their verbal skills, written and spoken. The evening will also include readings by a triad of published troubadours: Mary Sexson of Indianapolis, Tom Alan Orr of Morristown and Gaye McKenney of Shelbyville. All three are involved with the Writer’s Center of Indiana and Sexson and Orr will have poetic tomes available for purchase at The Strand Theatre during this night of rhythmic readings and vocal musings.  A newer, award-winning, voice in Hoosier verbal verse, McKenney, recently garnered the laurel of an “Honorable Mention,” in the James Hearst Poetry Prize. More significantly, she also had a poem, “Demolition,” published this year in the nation’s oldest literary magazine; “The North American Review.”

Sexson, who is a mother of two and teaches reading and language arts at a Montessori school, penned poems of celebration, longing and sometimes lament in her book “103 in the Light,” published in 2004.  She is a graduate of Indiana University and is a native-born bard. In the “World on Fire,” she speaks regretfully about herself to her recently- buried mother.

“I never did set the world

on fire, like my mama

said I would.

Never did turn

a head for good reason,

or do a noted thing.”

In a later emotional exploration she recalls her memories about her children and the promise of each new day in the poem “A Fine Silver Box.”

“I have a fine silver box

Tucked in the folds of my thoughts

where I store the beauty of my children;”

A little less than a decade before Sexson’s poetry saw printer’s presses, Orr published a slender and thoughtful volume entitled “Hammers in the Fog,” in 1995. Born in Bangor, Maine, he arrived in the Hoosier state in 1972 and writes often eloquent songs about both the street life and fields of Indiana.

In “Gnat Dreams,” Orr reminisces about life, birth and existence around the Shelby County farm, he has lived on since 1986:

“Something ancient drives a man to gamble with a seed

In the pitch of the dirt or the dark of the womb,”

Elsewhere in this reflective volume he explores the problems and mentalities of a medley of strange, ironic and often destitute characters encountered in his 20-year career in human services. For example, in “The Turtle Lady,” he vividly depicts the turmoil and travail of a life lived on the fringes of society and how this affects those caught up in the webs of marginal existence.

“Some say she is crazy

When she crawls inside herself

And sees things in the dark,

But the Turtles know. They know.”

In a not so strange, twisted, triangular tale, each of this triad of troubadours have read works before in this town and will once again voice their touching words during this, the third, poetry reading (at the Strand Theatre) sponsored by Three Sisters Books and Gifts on the third day of this week.

“This community is blessed to have these three ladies doing so much work for the community of Shelbyville and to offer this venue,” said  McKenney. “It is a great showcase for both novice and published poets alike to read their works.”

This preview does not express the opinion of the Strand Theatre.

Submitted by:  Terrance Aldridge