Make Love Poems ~ Interactive Poem

Last night we gathered at heART School for our Make Love Poems ~ Live Poetry Show. Nygel, Emmy, Lolu and Lesley-Anne (me) served up our words with just a wee bit of passion to all the lovely folk who came. And they’re still talking about it…

“Embracing, love, of all types with wonderful people at heART school, says Sami,

“Saturated in love and poetry last night at the heART School,” says Gillian,

“The music and the majesty, the magic and the mystery,” say Lolu, Emmy, Nygel and me.

And then, at the invitation of our poets, the audience offered up their words of love to be lovingly crafted by Lesley-Anne (me) into a custom, spontaneous, interactive poem! Yes, you bravely creative and brimming over with profundity, folk, you! Proving all you do is make love poems, too! You can see your poetry cards posted up on the board behind us in the photo… and now you can read what you wrote (with a little more editing today) 🙂

Thank you all for a heart warming evening of welcome. Thank you so much.

Now. Presenting YOUR WORDS. Poetized!

Sweet. Digital. Stars.

Love like you had one hour left
on this blue planet. Disconnect to really connect.
Mutual longing for community connection,
our cognitive knowledge that we are connected
by much more than mere familiarity.
Be present, be in the moment.

If I was twenty years younger
and twenty years bolder
I’d invite you to climb my Maple tree. You plague my life
like locusts, and I am the biggest bug lover.
Our palms harmonize the fractal lines
of our highs and lows with impermanent grasp.
If I could digest any part of you
it would be your warm, juicy, full-flesh heart.

Love is encouragement.
Love is laughing until you don’t make a sound.
Love is the smell of freshly baked cookies.
Love is a pirouette on a Sunday
when there’s nothing to do but dance with abandon.

Love is deaf, dumb and blind
and does not discriminate. Equal opportunity
for joy and pain, and I didn’t even realize
as I stretched to love myself
I would break his heart. He watches
the cardinals of her love fly heavenward. He feels
the coldness of his overwhelming empty nest. Perplexing
silent void until red birded ripening days return.

Sweet. Digital. Stars. You and me,
a spec of dust on a seed in wind. You and me
as the world goes by like ants in a line.
Love is not blind.
Love me. You are
my favourite. Sweet
whispers. Take me
to your leader.

note: I forgot to write my own words on an index card last night, so I added mine to our poem today. 🙂

Go. Love. Be.

Too sunny not to…

Sunny Tuesday afternoon, bull clips and poems in hand, I drive down to South Pandosy, the location of my first experiences with reading my poetry randomly in public, and my first poetry pinning installation, over 2 years ago.

This time I have an assistant who is more than willing to help attach said poems to trees and shrubs and benches and newly installed parking meters! WHAT??? Parking meters? Yes, folk, it will cost you to park in the village from now on. Times they are a changing… just like the leaves!

And, I just heard back from a lovely lady who discovered a poem that we pinned up today,

“Loved your pop up poetry on tutt st. today.” ~ Karla, Kelowna.

Here’s to the ripple effect of creative joy and engagement.

Happy October!

Lesley-Anne

Random PUP photos, found on my phone

A reminder that I really am really out there, even a little more than I remember. I’m out there with illumination installs in the dark of December, development commentary for the land behind our home, poetry tucked into library books, little lights and poems for my neighbours, and various installations in public places including readings.

Reminds me it’s time to get out there again.

: Mission Branch, ORL

Leaves and pages

A sunny September weekend and what better activity for a poet left alone to her own devices than to share poetry. So I went over to Mission Sports Fields and clipped some pages to the branches of the amazing collection of trees in the Arboretum. (if you are interested in gardening, this is a wonderful resource of many tree varieties that thrive here in the Okanagan.) And pinned a few more poems to the fence at the soccer pitch.

My heart somewhat light and buoyant, I was heading back to the car when I spied a woman reading my words. So I asked if I might take her photograph and she said,

“Sure. Are these yours? I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s really neat and it made me smile to find them. They are good.”

I wonder if any soccer players found them?

Happy Autumn,

Lesley-Anne

You just gotta have fun!

From time to time, someone asks why I do Pop-Up-Poetry. They often look slightly puzzled.

I pause, then explain I want to write, and I want to share my words. Then there’s the giddy, excited feeling when I install poems, almost feeling like I’m breaking a law of some kind, and I’m going to get caught. And that appeals to the rebel in me, and to the childlike mystery of taking action and anticipating ripples, like a comment on my blog, or meeting someone who says, hey, aren’t you the one who does Pop-Up-Poetry? And then there’s the taking steps of faith part of it, like doing it not knowing exactly why, but knowing it somehow feels right.

And it’s just FUN! Shouldn’t we all have fun in our lives?

Here are of the more whimsical installs I’ve done this year: