LIVE AT THE SALT MINE

OPEN MIC SUNDAY

feat. Annie Hendrix

Presented by the Poets Club of Lincoln
“Poetry is timeless and knows no bounds.”

Leading up to my first-ever reading as the featured author at The Poets Club of Lincoln Open Mic, I kept saying “This is how people must feel about their wedding day or their college graduation,” except I have graduated from college and I did get married. Neither of those things were ‘dreams,’ though. They were events, things that happened, memories I cherish—don’t get me wrong. Reading aloud from my first-ever collection of poetry, Misanthrope, however, felt like an arrival, a ceremony, a blessing. Even though I’ve been performing since I was little, it was the first time I’ve occupied the stage and felt fully myself.

I read heavy poems like “I Am the War,” “Wings,” and “Newsprint” in succession and, unexpectedly but not surprisingly, almost began to cry. I felt as if the act of reading aloud transported me back to the moment in which I wrote the poem, and was reminded of something I struggle with when it comes to music performance: It is incredibly difficult to relive the intense, emotionally charged moments that inspire the work sometimes.

NEWSPRINT

Do you remember
the world as it was,
before the carpet bombs
and white phosphorous?
     I don’t remember.
When I was young,
the girl who placed
a carnation in the barrel
of a soldier’s gun
was already an abstraction.

After fifteen poems, several anecdotes, and a few jokes, I closed on “Cracking Eggs,” a piece of flash fiction I intend to include in a forthcoming collection of short stories. Then I did the Q&A, bowed out, and headed to the signing table to sell and sign books. Even though it was an intimate community performance for a relatively small audience, that part was especially surreal.

After the break, there was an open mic and I got to hear poems read aloud by several poets from the Poets Club of Lincoln and Gold Country Writers. The facilitator even convinced my sister to read a beautiful poem of hers, which she performed brilliantly.

I’ve always dreamed of publishing a poetry collection, but I never imagined what would happen afterward. I didn’t know sharing the work as I have been over the last few weeks would feel so life-affirming, and make me this happy. I didn’t know anything could make me this happy 💖

Subscribe now

P.S

In case you missed it, last month I was invited to appear on Work in Progress on Auburn Community Television to discuss Misanthrope.

P.P.S

Misanthrope: A Collection of Poems is out now!

Purchase the collection.