Poetry is a Team Sport
Audio from my piece at the March 2023 Woodbine House reading
Audio of Poetry is a Team Sport read by Sarah, Jay, Josh, Tatyana, Ed, Joey, George, Colleen, Bernie, Harry, Scott, Laurel, Junie, Kelsea, Alyssa, Kyle, Morgan, Dolan, Jesse, GiGi, Carlos, Jake, Nikki, Rock, Dezy, Frankie, and JC on Thursday March 9, 2023.
For this piece, each poet in the room took a card printed with two stanzas. Readers had to listen for the first stanza and read the second aloud.
Full text of the poem is below.
Poetry is a Team Sport (the poem) Sarah thank you for pushing us to action for the sake of the art Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it necessary? Just because you can get away with being thoughtless, should you? The great artist sons of New York City (Berrigan, Katz, Ono-Lennon) Anselm was your dad a good dad? Should we all just be having babies question mark Ed thank you for being a mirror Carlos thank you for speaking truth It’s cool to care It’s cool to be kind It’s cool to be critical AND constructive Placating isn’t required Positivity isn’t required You can be sad and be part of the collective You can be angry and hear people out It’s ok to get as much out of the enthusiasm/drive as you can while you can, and to be comfortable with the periods of rest in between. If you are on the path of individual accomplishment, go for it. Get Patti famous, get Hell famous, And invite me to your Hamptons house in 15 years, and hang my paintings in it. And in the meantime, I like hanging out with you, I’m happy to be your friend. This is my friend, Have you met before? You’re both really stellar poets. IF you can be respectful, pro-social, communal, you get to spend less time worrying about who you are, where you belong, what other people think of you, what you think of other people, and spend more time making art Making art better Making your work more creative and interesting If you can stay curious about your dislikes, You can stay curious about your repulsions, You can let your feelings be feelings knowing you won’t feel that way forever Is haughtiness helpful? To you? To anyone? Is disdain productive? There’s no inherent moral authority in visionary thinking Change happens, wield the power you have to affect change when you can. There’s no good or bad There’s how we navigate on a moment-to-moment basis with the people we meet Ashton Kutcher in a cowboy hat is saying Nobody writes anything; all we do is translate Just listen. Even to the silence. And write down what you learn. That translation, that lens of transcription, That’s your voice. It’s already working, you listened, you learned, Welcome to Texas. There’s no comprehending just how close to the bone you can get and still feel alone and still feel related. It’s ok to be happy and sad at the same time. If you’re wondering whether I want you here The answer is YES I apologize if I introduce myself to you twice, I apologize if I ask for your name three times I’m sorry for swashbuckling I came into your life to change it, and I did change it, and nothing can change that I do not harbor resentments No petty revulsions docked in this bay Cringe-y-ness is something you opt into And can just as easily acknowledge and let pass Hi nice to meet you I’m Kelsea, How are you How was your day I’m dating all of you If you want it Ethical polyamory but the poly is everyone I’ve ever met and the amory is consuming my art Union Job but the job is making art with my friends and the union is making art with my friends I believe there is room for all of us, collective consciousness in moments It’s a gift to be aware of how short a time we are here for How lucky we are to know each other, how many sacrifices brought us into this room Stack all the sacrifices up together We could build a ladder to the peregrine falcons at the top of the Empire State I refuse to fester in scarcity mindset Sorry Larry Fagin, I want all of my friends to be rich and famous No more cigarettes no more booze only art supplies and rice, bananas, day old bread for 50cents subway entry and Rent It’s a feast to hear your words it’s a feast to hear your words I’m satiated I’m full I’ll never be hungry in a room full of friends Yum yum Health insurance someday, but not today Simona's dead Pete’s and Nancy’s SPLASH and Waldman's St Marks the New York school of hot brunettes Never OR, always AND, never NO always maybe, never OPINION always TRUTH always always always always always Your fear is not my fear It’s just rules and regulations Kill your universal truths Kill your platitudes Kill your Ex I do this, I do that, I do doodoo, I do who’s who, I do I do It’s three thirty six in the morning New York City is a drag on Fridays Maybe we should go to the beach.
Huge thank you to everyone for participating and humoring me.
Andy Warhol thought poetry readings were unreasonably boring— as a poet, I obviously disagree. Its an honor to hear my co-conspirators read their work aloud. I also think there is plenty of room to push the boundaries of trad New York school readings, innovate creatively and have more fun.
This piece is my answer to getting unstuck to the page and connecting with the listeners, connecting listeners with each other, getting away from the phone screen, including everyone in the room.
Yours with love,
Kelsea