National Poetry Month & Magic
Night settling on the Indian River in Florida.
April is National Poetry Month, and I opened it on April 1st by posting a video reading “Magic” on Instagram as an audition to open for Rupi Kaur at her world tour stops in Tampa or Fort Lauderdale. My goal for the year was to push the boundaries of my comfort zone by submitting my poetry a few places, and posting this video definitely put me out of my comfort zone. I don’t know when I’ll know if I got it. I suppose if the date comes and goes, and I don’t get a notice, I’ll know I didn’t get chosen.
Before and as I was posting, I received some great feedback from a precious friend, and she suggested I post multiple poems. At the time, I didn’t want to do that because I was afraid of being seen as greedy and manipulative. After all the videos posted, though, I realized that several people had posted multiple poems. Oddly, there were also a lot of people who didn’t follow the rules at all. Either they didn’t post the city they wanted to be considered for or they didn’t post a video, just audio with a still photo, or they just posted a photo with no video or audio. Regardless, now I wish I had posted a few more to maybe increase my chances, so instead, I’ll be posting other readings to my feed in hopes that Ms. Kaur’s people get curious enough to dig a little deeper. Tonight I posted “There Is Magic In the Night.”
Here are the printed versions. If you’d like to see the videos, you can find them by clicking on the titles below, but you have to have an Instagram account.
Magic
I find it in the silver sparkling dew
Burdening the blades of Autumn grass
And in the jasmine laden moonbeams.
Magic.
Full and round tonight—
Expectant,
Hopeful, even—
She is magic.
She opens her celestial fingers and casts hope onto the darkness,
Caresses the shadowy corners with her gentle touch.
And there is magic.
Shimmering in the jubilant waves
As they praise her.
“Peace”
“Peace”
She breathes with their salty voice.
“I see you even in your worry filled shadows.
Put those worries away.
Sirius guards the door.”
She has cast her spell,
And I have felt the handiwork of her sorcery.
11-14-19
There is Magic in the Night—
When the Darkness inhales
And expands from the corners and crevices—
Awakening the Shadows and the Light-bringers
And the Imagination.
There is Magic in the Night—
When tendrils of Honeysuckle
Wind...
Wind...
Wind...
From idle ankle to knee to hip,
Round belly and breast
To nostril
Through air thick like warm corn syrup.
There is Magic in the Night—
When softest, gentlest Glow,
No longer muted by the blinding light of day,
Comes to life and soothes the racing heart—
When Twinkles from eons past
Inspire the present…
...and the future,
And lightning rides on humble wings over dew tipped grasses.
There is Magic in the Night—
When the Whippoorwill
Calls...Calls...Calls…
Through the pines...
Across the hollers...
Into windows
Framed with gauzy Ghosts who dance in cool breezes.
There is Magic in the Night—
When one day’s worries are laid to rest
Upon a pillow,
Washed with Dreams
And hung to dry in silvery Moonlight.
There is Magic in the Night.
05/20/18
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Unless otherwise noted, all material--written, photographic, and artistic--is the original work of Estora Adams. All rights reserved.