diVERSES reKINDLED: In Conversation With Poet Ruth Awad

Whether a teacher and a student or a president and a nation, the least it takes to create a mirror is two people.

The leader in that situation, whether by status, title, or the context of a conversation, is reflected by the audience.

A nervous teacher will lead a misbehaving classroom. A boss who values competition will have a team that values numbers over cohesion.

Poets who are mindful of their own feelings of their work are poets in command of their art.

When Ruth Awad @magpieheart featured on the Micro Mic, we spoke on the topic of turns and the need for change in poems. Ruth’s attention to the experience of her reader is part of what has led her collections to reach such acclaim. The good news is that it is a skill other poets can strengthen.

As a communications coach, one of the things I emphasize with students is that effective communication requires shifts. If you spoke firm a moment ago, go soft. If you used a high pitch, go low. If you went fast, slow down.

Our conversation is a reminder that change is also an essential ingredient for art. Art that remains controlled using the same mechanisms over and over is art prime for forgetting.

Probably due to survival instincts, humans are great are identifying disruptions in patterns. Songs have verses, choruses, and bridges. Movies have twists. Shows cut scenes every eight seconds. Poems are no different—when we stay at the same place for too long, we give the reader permission to believe they are safe and to lose focus.

Creating art requires a level of emotional awareness and honesty. As Ruth suggests, if I’m bored, my reader is bored. As I tell my students, if I’m not sure I changed my pitch, there was no change in pitch. Uncertainty whether we achieved the goal is our bodies’ way to tell us no, we need to change farther.

Full conversation with Poet Ruth Awad and poet Geoff Anderson: https://youtu.be/yrw74h0pPw8