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2nd Oct, 2016 

JOELLE TAYLOR – 'UNEARTHS THE DEEPEST SENSE OF TRAGEDY, LOVE AND HOPE'

Joelle Taylor - September's evening was another great one for Write Angle. Although the audience didn't fill the room, what was lost in quantity was made up in quality. The open mikers, as ever, were great! Their enthusiasm and responsiveness made it an unforgettable evening! Poetry, stories, guitars, and hammered dulcimer added variety in music and song. It is, after all, our audience who keep Write Angle in the 'limelight'!

But credit due to our guest as well. Dressed in tie, waistcoat and torn jeans, hair cut short, while in front, standing tall and proud, Joelle Taylor, 'male/female, ageless and timeless', but ever a powerhouse of energy - brought everyone into a focused silence. She made them laugh and also conveyed many a thought provoking sense of tragedy, all evident in her innovative, crucial, hard rending poetry, and formidable presence. Her mobility of expression and body movement carried emotion distilled into beauty of language – many phrases hard to forget – 'Fear is your father forgetting your name' - yet somehow still bearing its strength. 'We will never rest in peace- not while police stand guard outside school gates and children have Kentucky fried complexions'...and knowledge is privilege and the libraries of our lives are pillaged'.

Sadly, Joelle had lost a very special friend the week before – someone she'd travelled and performed with, for 35 years – Emotionally distraught, she said she was dedicating the evening's poetry to that special person. It's no wonder she's been called a 'shape-shifter, myth-maker, linguistic risk taker, a poetical activist, surrealist with a raised fist (Patience Agbabi). She is that and more. Her poetry is razor sharp. Her poems convey the 'lifestyle' of council living but don't allow its poverty or rawness to get in the way of the possibility of getting out! 'Every one of these tower blocks is a book. Open it. There is hope in it. There is poetry'.

In 'Crystal Kisses', the audience was asked to shout 'Rapunzel' and she wasn't happy with it, but one swift word from her raspy throat and wide smile soon brought in the loud rant she wanted, and out came the poem'. Her poetry, sharp and to the point. 'Crystal...about girls at the top of the ivory tower waiting for their 'Pimp Charming' to save them'. 'He has already betrayed you. He is not climbing but pulling. These are not your dreams he's fulfilling as he stands before you half-drunk, grinning, introducing you to the gang...He makes her presents of stealing gifts...'

Joelle not only shows the poverty and rawness of living in council estates, but she also finds the beauty and potential existing beyond the obvious. In 'The last poet living', 'I am the last poet standing on this blank stage of bruised pavements, broken with missed opportunities and well-aimed misunderstandings…' You will see poetry in the Braille of night skies, in the length of time a parent takes to say goodbye…..or that girl perched on the lip of the tower block preparing to fly as wild birds escape the gilded bars of her ornamental rib cage, even in the gangland's wasteland warrior cries'.

Joelle wrote 'The Human Rights' for Jo Cox, and is now working with young men in council estates as well as on a project with Lemn Sessay, for refugee kids in Kent.
'There are children who sleep in school uniforms'...'Some children wash themselves in the water of their mother's self pity'... 'There are those who leave their skin in the washing machine till it no longer fits them'.

Hardly a phrase in her book, 'The Woman who was not there', from which many of her poems were read, is not worthy of mention. She was a hit for most of the audience though possibly came on too 'strong' for some to handle, but there's no question she held the room attentive througout her entire performance! Big applause for a very special poet!

Colin Eveleigh, so keen to come to Write Angle, accidentally came the week before! His poem about 'Mindfulness'. Using our senses to be aware of the beauty of creatures. 'Is there an off-switch to meditation. Is it being driven by a giraffe? There are no rules in meditation. It's about awareness. Being mindful is being aware. Awareness is survival – being mindful in every day life! To be fair, I do see things without being aware' . (thoughts to think upon). Leslie Prior brought a beautiful painting (hers) which had started with one theme and suddenly under bright reds, became something else. Called 'Confessional Art', Leslie tried to convey that what she started, turned into a historical venture of the house of Swiss French Architect, Corbusier, during WW2. She went on to tell about his architecture. 'A house is a machine for living in' and in 1920, he suddenly pursued the purist theory of painting reflecting his belief that anyone could re-invent themselves, as her painting did!

Richard Hawtree, leaving for a conference about Virgil, the Latin poet, in Ireland the following day, read 'Shedding Tears', about his experiences in the classroom. Aeneas did things the others could not...like stripping the oak, but when he shed tears, not blood - our freshly scanned examiners grew leaving Britain with the sting of war'. (not sure of this) Barry Smith read his only poem of Bognor Regis, inspired by a clown convention. As usual, it's impossible now even, to speak of the poem without seeing the 'town of weird and wonderful clowns in full gear' as Barry's poems are so visually descriptive. Then, one of Chichester. 'Slow Fair Incident' . The equipment was in good order. The little girl was King for the night'. The banana skin dropped….

Jezz got up and played two cover songs he loves. 'This one's for the ugly people', he laughed, and went on with Jacque Brel, 'In the Port of Amsterdam', to 'The Fratellis Whistle For the Choir'.No matter what he does, the emotion in his voice comes through and it's hard not to feel his love of music. More from Jezz please.. (but...how about something original???). What does Jezz feel about mistakes? 'It doesn't matter if you make mistakes with the words as long as you love the song'.

Bruce Parry played a lovely melody, 'Gondoliers', a Gilbert & Sullivan song (1889) on his hammer dulcimer. He then read the second in a series he's doing on parks, inspired by the autobiography of Charlie Chaplin who said, 'all he needs is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl' .

'A Walk in the Park'(1916-1987) gave a very apt visual description of park scenes – ice cream dripping, knees scraping....a thousand Sundays of church bells ringing and the meeting of park keeper, David Dewey Hughes and Felicity, as he helped her with her blanket and picnic basket. It all changed with search lights and fire bombs. Felicity disappeared with the coming of war. However, years later, they met again. This time, for good. A park bench now remains with their names engraved.

Jilly Funnel then got up and did a poem about being a very proper lady, having a house like Miss Marple's house and fancying the local farrier. She had everyone laughing at the punchline. Then, with her guitar, she sang 'Swan' – a lovely song about the pub her father used to take her and her sister to – 'before they 'fell out', and how wonderful it was, (the memories we cherish)

Speech Painter ended the evening with the 'second set of lyrics' from the 'Adult Dr Seuss'. 'What is the Sound of the Siren?'. (still a work in progress) 'The siren represents so many different things to different People. He then spoke of Dr Theodora (for those who don't know, Dr Seuss' first name) posing the question, 'What music is best? Can you help me please?' He had everyone laughing. Another great performer!

A lucky regular won the raffle, an unlimited meal for two at the Links Tavern, Liphook


 

   
   

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