Poet Geoff Hewitt of Vermont gestures while reading one of his poems during A Benefit Reading in a Time of Crisis, a special poetry reading at the North Church in Portsmouth last night.
Staff photo by Rich Beauchesne

Poetic approach to healing

By Michelle Firmbach,

PORTSMOUTH — The evening was an opportunity to confront lunacy with art and dare to challenge perceived notions of war and peace.

Six New England poets summoned an intimate crowd of eager listeners to embrace a remedy to the mood of confusion and uncertainty lingering just beyond the church doors.

The practice of thinking onto a page, using humor and color to reason beyond the consciousness of the animated tube situated at the focal point of most living rooms, was performed by learning and healing through art.

"We do have a need for language that we call poetry. It's basic to our being human," said poet Richard Foerster.

The event, billed as "A Benefit Reading in a Time of Crisis," was held at the North Church in Market Square on Tuesday night to aid the victims of terrorism.

The venue featured writers Charlotte Bacon, Michael Casey, Richard Foerster, Marie Harris, Geof Hewitt and Mekeel McBride who traveled from New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts to share in the cause.

"I think we constantly need to ask ourselves, 'And who is our neighbor?' when we want vengeance, when we're angry," said Foerster, 58, of York Beach, Maine. "The point of that parable is that everyone is our neighbor."

The audience, scattered among the long, cushioned pews, ranged from young to old.

The reading was sponsored by Poets for Peace, an international arts campaign dedicated to fostering world peace through the "healing art of poetry." Each poet read aloud a cross-section of their own work and some chose to read the work of their favorite authors.

Poets for Peace was founded in the late 1990s by poet Ilya Kaminsky and attorney Paloma Capanna in response to the Balkan crisis.

Since Sept. 11, Poets for Peace has organized more than 60 readings in the United States, Canada and Europe through its Mission 911: A Series of Readings program. To date, the readings have raised more than $10,000 for the Red Cross, the World Trade Center Relief Fund and other funds assisting the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Poet Geof Hewitt, of Calais, Vt., described the evening as a way of transforming what seems to be a fairly impractical art into something that is tangible, practical and good.

"The best poetry is written by normal people, average people who don't think of themselves as poets," said Hewitt, 58.

After the readings, Portsmouth resident Andrew Howe said the poets aptly joined the themes of conflict, war and terror with simple ideas present in everyday life.

"Why does it take terrorist acts to make us appreciate these things?" said Howe, 37, exiting the church.

Master of ceremonies Marie Harris, 58, of Barrington, said it is a privilege to use the arts of any kind not only to raise awareness for a necessary cause, but to help interpret the devastation.

"I think the poets and artists are the ones who make sense of the madness," said Harris, New Hampshire's poet laureate. "I also think that it's useful for people to hear points of view that are not mainstream. When artists speak out loud they are representing a very broad spectrum of the American and the human experience."

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