Moved to tears and laughter

THIS unexpectedly great evening of poetry, hosted by award-
winning anthologist Allie Esiri, was joyful and soul-food all at once.

It made us pause for thought, laugh out loud and shed a tear as well as remind us of our shared humanity, all in one evening.

The somewhat understated “special guest actors, to be announced” were actors Tony Robinson and Olivia Williams, acclaimed author Ayisha Malik and author and film producer Olivia Harrison.

Allie guided us, month by month, through seasonal themes, starting in January with I Worried by Mary Oliver, read by Olivia Harrison and Minority by Imtiaz Dharker, read by Ayisha.

Moving to February, Olivia Williams and Tony read alternately with sensitivity and humour about love, mixing tender poems such as First Love by John Clare with quirky poems such as Coupling by Fleur Adcock.

There were beautiful, familiar poems such as The Peace of Wild Things by American poet Wendell Berry, read by Olivia Harrison; poems which were new to me, such as Good Bones by Maggie Smith and Atlas by
U A Fanthorpe and ones I remembered from school days such as Morning Song by Sylvia Plath and This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin.

Melting point for me was between May and July (an unidentifiable point, lost in the flavours of the voices, words skilfully read and poems new to my ear) but I think somewhere between The Summer Day by Mary Oliver and Fuel by Naomi Shihab Nye, both read by Ayisha, and What If This Road by Sheenagh Pugh and Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St Vincent Millay, both read by Olivia Harrison.

For my friend, it was the moving Grace by Roger Robinson, read sensitively by Ayisha.

Comic highlights were Tony and Olivia Williams reading Us Two by A A Milne (think Baldrick as Pooh bear) and Brian Bilston’s hilarious A Brief History of Modern Art in Poetry.

The actress also gave a forthright and very funny rendition of Warning by Jenny Joseph.

To a question from the audience, Allie suggested the first poem, I Worried, as a good one to introduce teenagers to poetry and, to bring us up to contemplative October, Olivia Harrison read the beautiful and hopeful poem Everything Is Going To Be All Right by Derek Mahon.

The poems came alive on this evening in thanks to the talent of the actors. If only we could have this group to read for us every week in Henley.

The humour, emotion and connectedness we felt I am sure made us leave as better people — if poetry has the power to do that...

For my friend and me, reading the poem for the day from Allie’s beautiful book has become a shared point of discovery we look forward to every day.

Sue James