“Money just throws stones at grace” I loved many lines from Bernadette Mayer’s reading A Celebration of Bernadette Mayer at St Mark's Church in the Bowery this past Wednesday May 6, 2015 , but this one just landed right on heart like a cat that jumps on your chest when you are asleep. The full quote I wrote down is “I have caught a desire like
To grace everything placed with flowers like big business men
While on earth everyone dancing
Money just throws stones at grace
What is still and open”
This seems an apt poem for New York and the world, as we all struggle and maneuver for position and beg for even our own personal identity in the big apple.
The short film played during the middle of the reading after the other poets read Bernadette’s work and before Bernadette herself read was the highlight of the evening for myself. I loved the cinematography and her approachable countenance onscreen, the sound and color were excellent for the age of the picture.
Bernadette Mayer herself drew the audience in with her calming voice and a good long read. Subject matter covered tobacco, fables, ritual, herbs, a little murder, and egg whites.The poems kept flowing as Bernadette told us she would read us out of the house, and she did in fact begin to have audience members stand up and walk out one by one around eleven pm. I was still taking notes, this is the last poem I wrote down to my recall.
Fable
When men play they always take care of their hearts
Bring a bushel
They swallowed the smoke and exhaled it from their noses
What did the rose do
Romance
The boy went through the streets yelling
Plant this thing of our on this sloping thing
He has a child
Portable stereo system
They sweated and swam in the early morning
All in motion
The audience slowly dissipated and I milled about the poet for a while before leaving, the night was a good night, and I had nothing I could think of to say. Overall I found the performance intriguing and I would love to see Bernadette Mayer read again
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