A "Her Voice" event for 100,000 Poets for Change

The Women's Center for Healing and Transformation, in Abita Springs, Louisiana--just a few miles from my house--hosted a poetry reading last night for the 100,000 Poets for Change movement. The reading was part of the Women's Center's "Her Voice" series, and featured a number of Louisiana poets, as well as an open mic.

I was especially pleased to share the stage with Alex PoeticSoul Johnson, a spoken word poet from Lafayette, Louisiana. The poetry community (just like every other arts community) is very strong in New Orleans, but those of us who live on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain (known here as "the Northshore") don't have many opportunities to read, so the Women's Center support is vital.

I closed the event last night with a number of poems that addressed several issues: racism, the "me too" movement, LGBTQ discrimination, ageism, our national arrogance, and the horrors of our current administration. I also read my first poem about the institutionalized, commonly accepted atrocities we perform on non-humans, an issue so close to me that it's difficult to write about it.

It's always a pleasure to read, and to hear other poets read their works.