Poets Converge on South Bronx Urban Farm
By Bobby Gonzalez
Chris Brandt, one of the founders of “Against the Tide: Poets for Peace” stepped up to the microphone and read the poem "Outside the Blue Nile" by Yusef Komunyakaa. This was but one of the magical moments that occurred during the Open Mic series “Farm Fresh” which took place at La Finca Del Sur/South Bronx Farmers, an urban farmer cooperative led by Latina and Black women and their allies. Poets & Writers co-sponsored the five literary events that helped create a new community of grassroots spoken word artists. The months of July and August, 2011 were seasonably hot. However, as the crowds gathered under a mulberry tree, they listened to their neighbors’ lyrical compositions and forgot the city heat.
Among the participants were versifiers from Turkey, Chile, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and North Carolina. Before one session, the audience was regaled by the guitars and songs of Lonnie Harrington, a Seminole Native American tunesmith, and Ruben Gonzalez a South American musician.
The three acres of La Finca are wedged between an inter-state railroad and a constantly congested automobile highway. Still, urban farmers such as Nancy Surun-Ortiz are able to grow tomatoes, eggplant, habanero peppers and basil. School groups and local residents have an opportunity to come here and grow their own fruits and vegetables. Now, they are also able to listen to and share their own home-grown poetry.
At the final Open Mic, the heavens opened up and a skin-drenching rainstorm fell. Most of the folks rushed into the farm’s 8’ by 10’ greenhouse. At least twenty of us were crammed in that small space, reading and reciting poetry and eating sandwiches.
I have read at and MC’d many Open Mic’s, but “Farm Fresh” has been the most enjoyable and rewarding. It was an honor to listen to poetry by the people and for the people who are standing on good old fashioned dirt and surrounded by nature’s bounty in a South Bronx green space. Thank you, Poets & Writers.
Bobby Gonzalez is a poet, storyteller and motivational speaker based in the Bronx, New York. He is the author of “The Last Puerto Rican Indian: A Collection of Dangerous Poetry.” Visit his website at http://www.bobbygonzalez.com/
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