I had the opportunity to experience the very first performance of the show “Yes You May” by Tumbleme Productions. The event, which took place at Fremont Abbey Arts Center, was also a celebration of the release of two books by a couple of Seattle’s best queer poets: Write About an Empty Birdcage by Elaina M. Ellis and Bring Down the Chandeliers by Tara Hardy.
The poets started out together and then took turns alternating between performances of their own individual pieces. I found myself doing something I rarely do in public: crying. I was moved by the honesty and transparency of these two women, talking about subjects ranging from incest to bulimia to getting over an affair. My tears weren’t shed in sadness but rather in gratitude. I felt so honored to be witness to this raw energy of transformation and to be welcomed to blossom, too.
The theme of the evening “Yes You May” was developed around the concept that we can do whatever we want to do if we would only give ourselves permission. At one point, the poets handed out “pink slips” to the audience to fill out with their own dreams and desires.
This wasn’t your grandmother’s sedate, proper poetry reading. This was the truth of “Hanina’s Letters” (Ellis): A friend once claimed she saw my hair spell words/in wild cursive on the pillow . . . It’s queer to be a poet, to be a/poet. A Jew./It’s queer to be a/poet. To be. To be a/to b/e./To Be. And it was the strength of “Daughter” (Hardy): My father did monster things to my child body./This is a lamb’s truth . . . You can say I am half-blooded monster,/but also say this: my/blood does not make a pity trip.” And it was the exhilaration of “Sex From the Perspective of My Hair” (Hardy): When she loosens/us from the twist/on her head/we know it’s coming . . . .
The show was amazing and left me inspired to ask myself what I want to do in my own life, what I can do if I just give myself permission. I looked around the room during the show to see other people similarly moved, really engaged in the show and participating in the experience. If you missed the show, do not fret! Ellis & Hardy plan to take it on the road in the Midwest and West Coast in September and October 2011. In the meantime, you can get your very own copy of their books from Write Bloody Publishing or your local independent bookseller. Find out more about Elaina M. Ellis or Tara Hardy at their respective websites.
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