THE LOFT
by Ricky Novaes de Oliveira
Wine & books. All of us getting drunk. There was a DJ to warm us up to be read to, lullaby before milk, but really the university hired them to drown out all the protestors. The DJ looked so bored, and we weren’t here to listen, we wanted to hear some truth from the lips of someone who made it. Art makes us sick, and we keep downing it. Another glass. There was a beautiful speech by a grad student presenter. The poet started reading. Downstairs, the Palestinians begged to be heard. Police guarded the stairs to the weekly meeting of Israelis. Artists in my room hushed and tried to hear the poet. Some even listened. I waited for the words to surprise me to figure out what it all meant—out the window, I saw a shadow dancing in red-blue light, reaching over the wall, enveloping faces in a soft low, in & out. The poet led a rebel resistance in line breaks, dismantled the present with pages thrown, proclaimed the empire of prose, gestured and we snapped and we hummed and we felt through the dark for our seats. Make sure we were still there. It was a really great reading. After, we left our glasses to be picked up later by someone else, got in line for the book signing. Outside people were getting arrested and people were sleeping in classrooms and people were looking for life in the next few years and people were sober wanting to be drunk and there were so many wars going on and it was probably best to just go home and get to bed. Tomorrow looms. We said our goodbyes, said see you again at the next reading, and we listened wanting it to be done already and we didn’t hear the yells, the cries, the burning a few doors down
I will let this one speak for itself.
Also, I turned in this poem as part of one of my grad skool finals. “The Loft” serves as an “art event review” and I took a “creative” approach. Here’s the prompt, which you are welcome to do for yourself because it’s fun or because you have nothing better to do this weekend.
Write a one-page response (double space) for each literary/arts event you attended during the term. Your response should include a brief summary and reflect upon ideas that were explored and what you can take away as a writer.
Back to my final paper about postmodern deconstructionist literary theory.
Loftily, Ricky
my favourite one yet Ricky - San Diego is moulding the next Thomas Hardy and your subscribers are witnessing it live :)