Salita Bryant

As I sat in Lovinger Theatre, a woman with glasses and auburn hair was speaking with papers in her hand. She had a drink from her water bottle every few minutes and spoke with a cool, peaceful voice. The audience was silent. A poem that she wrote was called “Waiting on Hades” about the coming of winter. She explained that Persephone was the daughter of Diameter or something and that she was taken away by Hades one day. When that happened, her mother made Earth cold and barren. So, the gods came up with a compromise. Hades would have her for a few months every year. This is how winter started. A common motif in her poems is a “mother.” Perhaps, she is a mother herself.

In one poem, a repetition of the phrase “This is the day you will die“ emphasized the briefness of life. It made me think about how important each moment is. This was about the city life. She mentioned 125^th and 86^th street, the subway, and “the smell of death”. She had an eerie way with words, playing around creatively with meanings and unique phrases. Other ideas in the poem were the Bible, repentance and winter. Examples of other poems are “Karma Takes a Holiday” a poem about a hamster, and a poem psychoanalyzing the Cinderella fairytale. It was interesting to see a point of view within a famous story turned into a poem. Bryant described nature in “Near the River Where the Water was Born.” I also learned that poetry can be used to express anything, including different perspectives of life. Bryant had a variety of main ideas. She made writing look so easy, and had a whole packet of poems to share. This inspires me because now I know that I can turn my imagination into something real and applicable to life.