Mayworks Poetry Festival 2011

What better way to spend last Saturday afternoon than with a bunch of people who love words! The second half of Nanaimo's first ever Mayworks Poetry Festival of Working Class Culture was held at the Nanaimo Museum. I was interviewed by one of two featured poets, who proceeded to write a short poem about me on the spot. What fun! We were then invited to read these poemsat the open mike, along with any others we had written on the subject of "work."

I hadn't brought anything with me, but caught up in the moment (and I might add, at the very last moment) I decided to read out an unedited poem I had written earlier that week, while waiting for the ferry, after giving a talk on "Trusting your own Intuition." I had taken a walk along the quay and witnessed the glorious full moon rise over the harbour. I wrote about the moon and how it reflected what I felt about my life and my work.

Some of the poems were poignant, some funny, many thought-provoking. Wendy Morton, the poet who had interviewed me, is part of a project teaching native students to learn how to write poetry, interview their elders and then write a poem about them. David Fraser, another poet, wrote beautifully about the working man, and woman ~ and their stories lingered with you long after the day was over.

A man who had attended the first part of the festival was so inspired that he went home and rewrote one poem several times, then came back to the second half of the festival and participated in the open mike. In turn, he truly inspired many of us, reading his poem with his fingers touching the sheets of paper on which he had written the poem in braille.

A wonderfully rich and inspiring day of words ~