Poetry Soap Box Series
In the tradition of the SoapBox orators of the women’s movement, labor movement, and civil rights movement, 16 artists from San Diego participated in the Poetry Soap Box Series in early December. The election had ended, the quarantine orders had lifted somewhat, then tightened the next day. Our community came out of quarantine, briefly, to share their life stories through poetry. The personal and the political merged in many poems; intimate and the private experiences leaned into the public reckonings with openness, empathy, and conviction. Through the language of poetry, these artists, gave shape to this unprecedented moment in history that carries with it the past and the possibility for a more democratic future. These are poems of hope, loss, love, despair, and witness. Themes emerge in these poems that tie them together – demonstrating our shared humanity, even across our differences. One poet moves with purpose through her poem, it is a persuasive reminder that our stories live in our bodies. Another poet called in Walt Whitman – a poet who spoke of a true democracy, using the natural world as metaphor, he spoke about all people being complex and complete and needed in a democracy. As National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman wrote in her inaugural poem, “We weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.” As we move through this moment, let poets, and the truth they speak, be the light that illuminates the righteous path forward on our journey, as we finish building a true democracy in America.
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This project is partially funded by the California Arts Council's Artists in Communities program. |
