Bodacious Poetry on YouTube
Inspired by my new Twitter friend, American poet and kindred spirit Whitney Aumack, whose terrific poetry book Confessions Under Cratered Moons: Poetry of Cosmic Chaos I shall be reviewing here very soon, and my dear friend Irene Carroll, I took the plunge and finally created a YouTube channel!
I just uploaded a video I made earlier this week for my poem “Never Take for Granted” from Eden Redefined as practice for reading aloud at the monthly poetry in the round jam at The Elm Cafe in Kingston, which I attended this week. The response to my work from fellow poets was overwhelmingly positive.
I’ve been writing poetry since I was a teenager and have been inspired by contemporary freeform, lyrical “street poets” Charles Bukowski, Jim Carroll, Jim Morrison, Patti Smith and Michael Madsen. However, I also read and have been influenced by Rumi, Edgar Allan Poe, T.S. Eliot, John Keats, W.B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, Sylvia Plath, Dorothy Parker, Mary Oliver, Maya Angelou, and Karen Solie, among others. If you have a favourite poet I should read, please let me know in a comment on this post.
I write rhyming and non-rhyming verse and prose that primarily speaks to the human condition, with themes of sex, drugs, rock’n’roll, unrequited love, nature, grief, isolation, and a constant quest for spiritual enlightenment and redemption.
Those who know me probably know that using video is NOT something I’m comfortable with, but I know that I can no longer put it off. There is no better way to enjoy poetry than to hear it read by the author, so I’ll be sharing more poetry by my friends and me that way over at https://www.youtube.com/@ChristineBode. Hit that SUBSCRIBE button!
There has never been a time in our history when poetry has been more relevant or needed for creative, spiritual and psychological sustenance. So in my humble opinion, I think more people should give up watching doomsday news and pick up a book of poetry or listen to a spoken word poet on an audiobook. Words really can replenish our souls with life-affirming inspiration and motivation and make us feel as if we are not alone. Because don’t most humans just want to be seen and listened to?