the spirits tantalize

After a too busy day yesterday, I hauled myself out of my chair, put aside the so-pretty think-summer sock I'd started

 and drove off in the night to the Metta Theater for a poetry reading. This was something I didn't want to miss. Pascale Petit is an award winning British poet who teaches in London at a number of organizations, including the Tate Modern (I love that inspiring place). She has researched and studied the work and life of Frida Kahlo and her newest collection of 52 poems is called "What the Water Gave Me: Poems After Frida Kahlo".  In fact, each poem is titled after the paintings and written in her voice. A Poetry London review states, "...while Kahlo's voice is subtly distinguished from Petit's own, both women have a way of taking painful, private experiences and transmuting them, through imagery, into something that has the power of folklore. They capture the unsettling spirit of Frida Kahlo and her work perfectly." Yes.

Petit, who lives in London,  has fallen in love with Taos and hopes to return soon. This is not an unusual happening and one of the reasons why the audience at last night's reading was mostly made up of Taos poets and writers. Most of us have been transplanted from other locales and tend to support each other. Pascale's poetry is a fusion of art and words. Not surprising since she was a visual artist for many years before turning to poetry full time. Her knowledge and sensitivity toward Kahlo's work and life are vividly set into the poems.

The theater itself is a phenomenon. Small, intimate (you have to start somewhere) the brainchild of actors/writers Bruce and Michelle McIntosh with, I suspect, the help of dedicated friends. The vintage seats are red velour, the stage backdrop is curtained in black, good lighting and an intimate and "happening" atmosphere. It reminds me so much of off-broadway theaters in Greenwich Village in Manhattan in the 1950's and 60's. A regular audience is slowly developing and there are hopes to expand into larger quarters at some point. Meanwhile, they have frequent bake sales to keep up with expenses. Don't you just love it? I do. And the spirit and commitment propelling it. They hold acting workshops too. So who knows? If Lady Gaga could do it, why not a woman past a certain age? As a Leo, I've always wanted my name up in lights. Hmmm Something to think about before the moment passes. Pink hair. Gold lame mini's. I'll give it some more thought.