“Oh, What A Night!”
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| The Dalai Java Cafe, Canandaigua, NY |
Yeah, what a night! When words and music and conversation around superb food injected in the mix come together to create an intriguing evening of
sharing and camaraderie. Finally, the monthly first Thursday in-house “Sea of
Coffee Open Mic’ series resumed after an absence due to Covid-19
restrictions. Convened at The Dalai Java located at 157 S. Main Street in Canandaigua featured two readers, ryki
zuckerman and me combined with several open mic contributors. The evening was
grand!
ryki weaved poetic themes and words
drenched in poignant sensibilities fueled by a rich wit that created avenues
for thoughtful remembrances and reflections that will pleasantly haunt
listeners for days to come. For those who know me, I “spat forth” work drenched
in social justice occurrences as I continued my thinking that creatives are, in
essence, cultural workers who have the unique ability to not only shape hope
and aspirations but can enable folks to question age-old held personal beliefs
that must be re-evaluated for communities to grow and become stronger.
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| bill berry, jr., (photo credit: George Grace) |
The strategy to host zuckerman and
berry was a wise programmatic decision since several phases of human dynamics
were examined by the featured readers using words…words that had the potential
to inspire, challenge and captivate. And the open mic participants brought
their “A” game and made wonderful contributions to an evening that was simply, “Oh
What A Night.”
Stephen Lewandowski (photo credit: George Grace) 
Scott W. Williams (photo credit: George Grace)
Gracious thanks go to the series’ hosts
Stephen Lewandowski and Scott W. Williams who also offered poems that have
historically contributed to the canon of poetry complemented and embellished
with original work. Words that floated
in the air and lightly landed on the consciousness of the audience by two
aficionados of the poetic genre, oh what a night.
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| Bon Amie French Bistro, 215 S. Main Street, Canandaigua, NY |
The entire evening was grand. And for
those who have visited Canandaigua or plan to be first time visitors, and Bon
Ami French Bistro has not been on your foody radar screen, visit. You will not
be disappointed in the preparation, host cordiality, richness, and grandeur of
their expertly prepared and presented cuisine.
The restaurant is at 215 S. Main Street. I enjoyed my pre-event meal
there with several poets/visual artists/scholars. Their joviality, sharing
experiences, friendliness, wisdom and conversation topics were settled in the
affectionate nuances of just a bunch of folks hanging out together…no
pretentiousness or artificiality. Cool.
Postscript: Stephen Lewandowski and Scott W. Williams made the difficult and painful decision to bring to closure the first Thursday sessions. I appreciate their courageous journey to keep poetry alive and emboldened in the public arena. And I thank them for their gift of service to the creative and literary community. I am sure there is a Phoenix tale to this untimely episode and its ending resting beneath the surface.
aaduna - an online adventure with words and images - a globally read, multi-cultural, and diverse online literary and visual arts journal established in 2010. Visit us at www.aaduna.org where we put measurable actions to our words.
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