September 2023 – Joslyn Poems

I am posting this quite a bit later in the month than I usually do. Nothing came to me, and I was kind of down in the dumps, anyway. But I have become a member of a poetry community here in Springfield, Missouri, and it has perked me up. It’s an active one, doing readings all over town: in bars, the library, a church, a neighborhood gathering, book stores, a coffee house, open mics, and poetry slams, as well as wherever someone invites us or will have us! It’s fun, and the members of the group are great people and from different generations, which has given me a variety of interesting perspectives.

There is an open mic in a coffee/ice cream shop the first Friday of each month. The first couple of times I attended and read there was only a small audience, and most of us read. But, for the September reading, there were probably 40 people. The colleges in Springfield are back in session, and I think many of the attendees were college students. It was a great night. The energy was palpable, and it enhanced the reading of poems. I loved being in the company of younger people, who may see the world in an entirely different way than I do – or maybe not! But, in any case, they accepted me just as I was, too.

I wrote a poem about my experience, and I will read it to them at the October open mic:

I Remember

They are young.

They are vibrant.

They have stories to tell

that release energy,

exploding into the air.

I feel the pain,

the joy,

that they express,

and I remember.

Yes, I remember,

and they remind me

of another time,

another life,

a life left behind

willingly, joyfully,

for this life,

the one I have now.

It’s not without some grief,

some regrets,

but full of friends

and poets who nourish me,

young and older,

and remind me where I’ve been

and how lucky I am

to be here in this time,

in this space.

The energy is palpable,

real, raw, honest.

I take it in,

and remember.

When have you been in the company of people in a range of generations? What was your experience?

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”*

What is something you do or are a part of that raises your spirits? What about it makes you happy?