8
street roots
April 29, 2011
Poetic
justice
BY DEVAN SCHWARTZ
C O N TR IBU TIN G WRITER
Street poets
break down
stereotypes
an d prejudice
with the
power o f
words
? I
audience is quiet Lights rise
I slowly, backlighting the stage. There
■A. are silhouettes of men and women
seated there. A woman steps to a stage-right
podium, a man to another.
She recites a poem, the proscenium
illumined by a burnt orange filter; he begins
to read his own. One after another, like a
revolving door, the poets share original
work. Their words puncture the audience’s
egos, drawing us into their worlds. Some
are nervous reading aloud. Others are
seasoned performers who wait for laughter,
the sinking in of emotion.
We are occupying the Sellwood Masonic
Temple in Southeast Portland. The event,
co-produced by Lunacy Stageworks and
Street Roots, brings to life some of the most
affecting voices of local homeless and street
writers.
In a way it’s an awakening to hear the
poetry, which transcends the basic needs of
food, shelter and employment so often
paramount to survival. The poets’ desires
for basic needs certainly come out in the
writing, though an array of content inhabits
the event’s atmosphere: from salient
political issues (sit-lie ordinance^ City of
Portland’s camping ban), to drug addiction
and love affairs that withered on thervine.
Ivr t he wordyTgftsigmul
humor, an. overt hopefulness. Their poems
are as simple and complex as the human
spirit itself.
“Poetry breaks through classes,” says
Ann Singer, fundraiser and special events
coordinator for Lunacy Stageworks. “It can
come from anywhere. And if you have that
talent you can break through class
boundaries. Audiences say ‘that’s a great
, poet; that’s a great writer.’” '
Singer contacted Street Roots and the
non-profit organization Write Around
Portland to find this eventual group of
poets. Five weeks were spent rehearsing
and assembling slides and musical
accompaniment. Singer notes how “the
poets wanted people to really understand
who they were, that they’re a strong
community of people not to be pitied, that
it*s something that’s happened to them that
could happen to anyone.”
Anyone experiencing homelessness,
whether for a single night or for multiple
years, gains particular perspectives. These
insights are as indelible and important as
rebut such judgments: yes, such instances
occur and, no, this confirms nothing beyond
the difficult times of the Great Recession.
Given high levels of adversity, Portland’s .
homeless and marginalized poets also offer
a surprising amount of levity. “You have to
eventually find humor in that situation
(homelessness), in order to survive it,” says
Ann Singer.
These sentiments are echoed by Leo
Rhodes, a Street Roots vendor and one of
the poets who read at the “Stories: From
the Streets” performance in Sellwood.
“When a homeless person tries to write
or speak it often comes out angry,” he says.
“I’m reminded every time I want to write to
be nice; I have to be for people to *
understand. It’s hard for homeless people to
express themselves in a nice way.”
Rhodes grew up on the Gila River Indian
Reservation in Arizona. He spent years as a
Leo Rhodes, left,
with Oregon Poet
Laureate Em eritus
Lawson Inada,
center,and K aia
Sand at the Poetry
Excursions event in
June. Rhodes, who
is homeless, went
on to share the
stage again with
Inada at the
Japanese American
Historical Plaza
rededication
ceremony.
h o m e l e s s o r g a n iz e r a n r T a d L V O c a T e T n ’ b e a t t l e
general public, where narratives of drug or
alcohol abuse or laziness often pervade, no
matter how flimsy or misunderstood their
evidence. The poetry serves to qualify and
S a tu rd a y W RITE!
A p ril 3 0 , 2011
before moving to Portland, poetry
notebooks in tow. While taking an outreach
See POETRY page 9
J o in u s f o r a M A R C H A R A L L Y o n M a y 1 s t !
Two-hour FREE community writing workshops!
Journals, pens and light snacks will be provided. One workshop per person and
pre-registration is required. To register: Call 503.796.9224.
1
2
3
Dexter McCarty Middle School,
lOam-Noon, 1400 SE 5th St, Gresham
•
Mercy Corps Action Center,
lOam-Noon, 45 SW Ankeny St, Portland
Eastminster Presbyterian Church,
lOam-Noon, 12505 NE Halsey, Portland
4
5
East Portland Community Center,
2-4pm,Multipurpose Room #2,
740 SE 106th Avfe, Portland
Café au Play, lOam-Noon,
5633 SE Division, Portland
Go to writearound.org or call 503.796.9224 for more info
Saturday WRITE! is made possible
with support from the
Multnomah County Cultural Coalition
and the Oregon Cultural Trust.
Workshops are ADA-accessible.
Call 503.796.9224
if you need specific accommodations.
coffee bean
I N T E R N A T I O N A L*
We tip our mugs to Coffee Bean International for donating coffee to Street
Roots and keeping our vendors warm in the morning!
Thank you!
On May 1,1886, workers united in a
general strike throughout the United
States to force recognition of the eight-
hour working day. On May 1,1890, mass
demonstrations and strikes were heid
throughout Europe and America. From
that day to the present workers worldwide
celebrate May 1st as a day of
International Worker Solidarity, fighting
for-the right to live without oppression
and exploitation.
w’ n a iío n S a b t'S í n
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SW Park & Salm on
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