diVERSES reKINDLED: In Conversation With Poet Alexa Patrick

Go to a poetry open mic, but don't be surprised when most of the people there are poets.

Movie theaters don't have this problem. Most people in the theater have never acted, and there's a good chance they have not even spent much time in front of any camera.

Concerts big and small are full of fans who don't know how to play an instrument.

People don't go to the theater to watch a movie. They go to be entertained and moved by a story, and to tell others about the story. People go to a concert not to go to the concert, but to feel moved or share in an experience or tell friends they were there.

When fellow Cave Canem graduate released her book, she created an experience. Specifically, she conjured up a trip back to high school with a prom to create a launch that less than .1% of poets can say they have ever seen before.

When I married my wife, Kathy, we decided that we didn't just want a memorable day for ourselves, but for everyone who came. So we had a pirate wedding. More than a decade later, there are times when people we met for the first time ask if we were the pirate wedding people.

To get people to share what we do, and extend beyond our immediate circle, we have to give people a reason to share--something they haven't seen, something they learned, something that gives to their lives.

Otherwise, we as poets will only ever read for poets.

Full conversation with poet Geoff Anderson and poet Alexa Patrick: https://youtube.com/live/M6IihSCIh2c