Reading for the Elders

By Thomas Ivory, Jr.

As the sun shined down bright and warm on that mid-April Saturday afternoon during National Poetry Month, a few elderly people were out in the courtyard rolling around in wheelchairs or slowly meandering with their canes along the sidewalks, while a group of poets huddled at the grand entrance of the Centre Retirement Home in Fort Collins preparing for a Reading for the Elders. 

Members of GuloGulo (Luke Riley, Arielle Wash, Booger, and Thomas Ivory, Jr.) were getting ready to present well-known poems from well-known poets to a group of retirees. The intention was to provide poetic inspiration from famous poems that our reverend elders would recognize and enjoy. And what occurred turned out to inspire the poets as well.

The second-floor entertainment room had all its tables pushed aside to create a half-circle for a dozen elderly women (no old men wanted to join; Gunslinger was on) to listen to a fun-filled poetry presentation. As the poets filed in, an excitement bubbled where the ladies wanted to introduce themselves and share their own stories.

Once the chatter settled, the poets began to present poems with much energy and projection. The first two rounds of famous poems presented were from Walt Whitman, Robert Service, Emily Dickinson, Shel Silverstein, and others. But once the guest poets finished the first round, the ladies in the audience wanted to share their poems too!

One woman read a poem from a collection of poetry she wrote when she was younger, while another woman presented a poem she wrote just that morning in anticipation of the poets’ arrival.

Soon more interested elderly women were brought in to join the excitement and found a spot in the circle to enjoy the show. After another round of famous poems presented by GuloGulo poets, again the elderly women wanted to share their own poems and stories. Everyone listened respectfully.

As for the last round of poetry read, the guest poets provided personal poems – to which the ladies rejoiced with claps and laughter. At the end, everyone wanted to talk and share once more before the poets were politely escorted out.

The Reading for the Elders was not only a noble cause, it was great practice for the poets. Projecting their voices to be heard was of most importance because at times the women wearing hearing-aides had trouble listening. Keeping eye-contact while using hand and body language to keep the audience engaged was also an important practice. What might seem like an easy gig quickly became a challenge when the poets walked into a room with a dozen eager people waiting to be entertained.

Whether the women could not fully hear, were falling asleep entirely, or kept making untimely remarks during the presentation, this only added spice to the gig. Stepping away from the comforts of the Wolverine Farm event space and stepping into the real world where poetry is not always valued, this challenged the poets to take their presentation to the next level of perfection.

And the retirement home invited the poets back, so dust off those famous poems and articulate!

Set List:

Round 1
Thomas – “Drunken Sailor” sea shanty
Booger – “Boy Named Sue” by Shel Silvertein
Luke – “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
Arielle – “In the Peace of Wild Things” by Wendell Berry

Round 2
Thomas – “Oh Captain, My Captain” by Walt Whitman
Booger – “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service
Luke – “Gold Leaves” by CK Chesterson
Arielle – “ Stopping By Woods On A Snowing Evening” by Robert Frost

Round 3 (personal poems)
Thomas – “Amongst The Wild Beasts”
Booger – “Outhouse”
Luke – “Garry”
Arielle – “Into Wind”