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Boston Poetry Marathon 2001 a review
Boston Poetry Marathon 2001
by Doug Holder
A stark white wall with the bright shock of an abstract painting, was an apt backdrop for the Boston Poetry Marathon, held from July 19 to 22 at the ART INSTITUTE OF BOSTON outside of Kenmore Square. The poetry here was often as mercurial, colorful and amorphous as any modern art canvas. Jim Berhle, a key organizer of the festival, (along with Joesph Lease and Donna de la Perriere), told me that this marathon was formed on the drop of a dime, when the poet Aaron Kiley, ( the organizer of the past few readings), was unable to work his magic this year. Berhle, ever the optimist, told me that the poets came from all over the country, some untried, and others seasoned veterans. The Art Institute gave them the space for free, and all the readers waved their fees. Obviously, money was not a factor in organizing this gathering. It was as Behrle described it, an oasis for poetry during the hot, dry and slow summer months. Here folks could come together, network, party and listen to good poetry in a laid back atmosphere.
The roster for the marathon was impressive. Among the more prominent readers were Frank Bidart, recipient of the Lannan Literary Award, and the author of many collections, Fanny Howe, who has just released a novel, INDIVISIBLE, David Rivard, a recipient of the James Laughlin Prize from the Acadmy of American Poets, and Tom Sleigh, who has won The Writer's Award from the Wallace/Reader's Digest Fund, and is the author of a number of books.
I attended the Saturday afternoon reading. It was well attended, with the audience attired in the uniform of the hip: the preponderance of black, the well appointed tattoos, the men with ponytails or shaved heads, or both. The crowd seemed very engaged in the performance. And indeed, there were several readers that were well worth listening to. Aaron Kiley, the organizer of the previous festivals, read a hilarious poem about a Calvin Klien billboard. He speculated about the size of the model's member hidden underneath the fashionable briefs. The poet pondered that one pubic hair on this huge rendition of the model could be used like a feather boa, to drape around his neck. Quite a meditation on the pubic for the public! Kiley also had a conventional rhyming poem about Sunday worship that cleverly exposed the facade of piety.
I was particularly impressed with the poet, John Mulroney. Mulroney, a graduate of NYU, seemed a bit older than the the other poets reading during the afternoon. He reminded me in some ways of a younger Tom Waits. He had a world weary style, and his poetry explored a hardscrabble life. He effectively used banal items like a coffee cup, an ashtray, as totems for the transitory nature of life. There were many good lines that were laid on the audience, like this description ," old graffiti are riddles of an ancient civilization," or simply a description of a tumor ridden fish being pulled from a sludge infested river.
The other poets Devin Johnson, Max Winter, and Brendda Lijima read work that was decidely abstract, and for this traditional poet, difficult to follow. The poets painted vivid pictures, loaded at times with intriguing images, but unfortunately they didn't form a cohesive whole. This may be the point. The audience seemed to enjoy it all, and that too is the point. As always my hat if off to Jim Behrle and his cohorts, for the many projects they undertake
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