Recycling, re-imagining, re-purposing. My Del Ray Poetry Fence on the corner of Dewitt and E. Windsor has been cloned and transmuted for a while to Columbia Pike in Arlington where owner of Studio Pause, Sushmita Mazumdar, invited me to have a community show. The “Community Pause” was March 8, and the exhibit continues from March through May.

 

I brought my mini poetry fence, Gumball poetry, Avenue poems, Little Free Library, poetry mailbox, Halloween poems, pond, fence window and fairy gardens to display. Also gracing the space are many stories about Del Ray neighbors stopping by the fence – taken from my manuscript, The Poetry Fence: A Catalyst for Community.

 

Studio Pause contributed their own creativity with a tall brown fence that runs most of the length of the show. It’s an imaginative re-purposing of brown mailing paper they’ve used to cover their art tables – where people doodle, draw, and write. Sushmita keeps all the brown papers because there’s “so much good stuff on them.” Lou Lou Marino, Kara Billings, and other regular Studio participants created a tall foamboard “poetry” fence and covered it artfully with particularly interesting bits torn off the many long rolls of doodled paper.

 

As I worked in this Studio space putting together the show, I was struck by the similarity with my poetry fence in Del Ray. Sushmita and Lou Lou both immediately welcomed with openness and delight whoever happened to come in the door, giving the guests whatever time they wanted even though we all had tasks to complete for the exhibit. Kindness and trust were always present, and the visitors excitedly expressed delight at having found this soft space. Studio regulars were also welcomed as one of the family.

 

It felt exactly like what I experience around my poetry fence, Little Free Library, fast-food tomatoes and garden. Studio Pause reached out its arms to my neighborhood stopping place, and my poetry fence and their studio have embraced through this show. I hope you can visit!