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malibusurfsidenews.com life & arts
Malibu surfside news | January 10, 2019 | 19
Giving reason to the rhymes
Poetry Open
Mic welcomes,
encourages
creative minds
Barbara Burke
Freelance Reporter
Viva Padilla’s poetry is
edgy, yet eloquent; provocative,
yet peaceful; intimate,
yet inclusive.
Her poems moved attendees
at the Malibu
Library’s Saturday, Jan.
5 Poetry Open Mic, at
which she was the featured
guest.
“A lot of people like me
who live in South Central
LA try to help our community,
which lacks art resources,”
Padilla said. “We
try to create a space that
doesn’t otherwise exist so
that artists can find a voice
and that’s why I started
drylandla.org and my literary
journal.”
Padilla shared that she is
a Chicana whose parents
came from Mexico, that
her mother fled Colima —
a Mexican state entrenched
in crime, its citizens the
victims of drug cartel wars
— and that her parents
became naturalized
citizens.
She read her poems in
both English and beautiful,
flowing Spanish. Although
many attendees did not
speak Spanish, they appreciated
the beautiful, universal
cadence in Padilla’s
heartfelt poems.
Next, Doug Rucker read
a piece from his book,
“Moving Through.”
“This is a piece I wrote
after an unhappy divorce,”
he said. “My wife had a
picture of two large Mayan
warriors over our bed.”
The audience laughed at
his irony and candor, and
laughed even more heartily
when he added “I told
her the subject matter disturbed
me, but the picture
stayed there anyway.”
Perkin Monk, a newcomer
to the open mic,
read a moving piece titled
“What Are We Going to
Eat?” At first blush, one
might think the prose was
lighthearted. However, like
many poems, it surprised.
It was a lament about
grieving.
“I wake up to the loudest
sound of silent,” Monk
began. “The echoes in my
ears, No one to ask how
did you sleep? No one to
warm my feet. No one to
ask ‘What are we going to
eat?’”
Professor John Struloeff,
who directs the creative
writing program at Pepperdine,
shared “Particle
Position,” a somewhat
esoteric poem, that read in
part “particles do not have
defined positions until they
are observed.”
Einstein plays a pivotal
part in that prose.
The work, however, also
is somewhat universal
and eternal, as it speaks
of fleeting glances, of
possible romance, and of
momentary, mesmerizing
movements.
“A dark and rainy night,
storefront lights glistening
on the sidewalk,” he
continued. “As he exits
the party, a woman’s smile
haunting his thoughts.
Would he see that face
again? Would she touch
his hand in passing while
reaching for wine to make
the signal as clear as his favorite
memories?”
The lovely afternoon
ended with works by
three of Malibu’s own:
Ann Buxie, Ellen Reich
and outgoing Malibu Poet
Laureate Ricardo Means
Ybarra.
“My name is Ann,”
Buxie read. “A-N-N is an
acronym, an artificial neural
network, my cover’s
blown. Let me introduce
myself. I am an algorithm,
a disrupter. I blurt random
advice.”
Poetry is meant to define
the intricacies of imagery,
to disrupt the natural sequence
of things so as to
challenge those who hear
it to explore the contours
of creations, of reality, of
justice.
It also is meant to heal,
as both Reich and Ybarra
alluded to when they noted
how discombobulating the
Woolsey Fire was for Malibuites.
“When I was evacuated,
I did not know if my house
was OK or not,” Reich
said. “I was so happy to
get back home and to find
that my poetry did not burn
up.”
Ybarra shared his poem,
“On a Ridge of the Santa
Monica Mountains.”
“Sunset hangs around
like the dog waiting for me
to throw his Frisbee,” he
began.
Ybarra, too, will still be
hanging around Malibu.
He will, however, soon
pass the torch to someone
new, as his term as Malibu
Poet Laureate is ending.
He does not intend to
rest on his literary laurels.
Rather, he is venturing
toward new aspirations.
He announced his next
project. Ybarra, Malibu
photographer Dave
Teel and visual arts
teacher Nicole Fisher are
spearheading a community
art collection and are
calling artists of all ages,
from all mediums, to
submit an original work of
art that tells a story of their
community after the fire.
For more information, or
to submit pieces for editorial
consideration, email
ricardomeans@gmail.com
by Jan. 31.
Malibu Newsstand
25 Years in Business. #MalibuStrong
Thanks to all the brave emergency personnel
and volunteers, for their tireless work
protecting our beloved city.
It’s devastating to lose a
home, but most importantly
many lives were saved.
MALIBU IS
RESILIENT.
Poet Perkin Monk reads her piece, titled “What Are We
Going To Eat?” during the Saturday, Jan. 5 Poetry Open
Mic in Malibu. Suzy Demeter/22nd Century Media
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