By MICHELLE BITING Special to the Palisadian-Post Young poets from Marquez Charter Elementary’s third-grade class will read poetry from their latest anthology, ‘The One and Only Moon,’ on Friday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Village Books on Swarthmore. As a resident California Poet in the Schools, I am pleased and honored to present these fine young writers, celebrating work they created during my recent five-week residency at Marquez. Nonprofit CPITS has sent hundreds of poets into schools across the state for over forty years. At a time when parents and educators are forced to fight for the bare minimum of instructional necessities and art and enrichment programs continue to be stripped as budgets are cut, I am grateful for the support of organizations and individuals who are willing to help keep creativity and curiosity in learning alive. In his book ‘Why Poetry Matters,’ author Jay Parini declares that poetry helps us ‘reclaim the truth often obscured in our clamorous culture: without poetry, we live only partially, not fully conscious of the possibilities that life affords.’ Through writing, the exploration of the vibrant landscapes within and outside ourselves, we connect and celebrate our very personal, yet universal perspectives. Poetry kindles the fire of life, and when we pass this inspirational flame, hand to hand, we are answering the crucial question posed by poet Elizabeth Alexander”Are we not of interest to each other?’ with a resounding ‘Yes, we are!’ During workshops I often remind my students that art saves lives. All children possess the given genius of language and imagination, so that no matter what happens to them, they can create something true and beautiful and transcendent that expands beyond loss and sorrow, something shimmering of themselves to share and connect with the rest of humanity. This is what poetry, the writing and study of it, provides’freedom and the ability to think and feel inside, outside the box and into undiscovered realms beyond. Words, the simple configuring of them on the tongue and the page; our concrete and emotional worlds examined; our stories translated and shared, hold the keys to liberation. Because it is true, as the great poet Walt Whitman once famously said, ‘I contain multitudes.’ Are we not these very multitudes? Are we not of interest to each other? Michelle Bitting is a fourth-generation Palisadian and mother of two, married to actor Phil Abrams. She has published work extensively in national journals. In 2007, Thomas Lux chose her full-length manuscript ‘Good Friday Kiss,’ published by C & R Press in 2008, as the winner of the DeNovo First Book Award. Michelle has taught poetry in the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program and at Twin Towers prison with a grant from Poets & Writers Magazine. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Pacific University in Oregon.
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