St. Louis: 100 Boots Poetry

Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri. April 2018.

Through an El Paso writer, I learned about the 100 Boots Poetry Series at St. Louis' Pulitzer Arts Foundation. The intel hit me just in time to attend the final event in this year's series.

Layli Long Soldier, 100 Boots Poetry Series, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri. April 2018.

The final event highlighted poets Layli Long Soldier and Douglas Kearney, authors of Whereas and Buck Studies respectively.

Douglas Kearney, 100 Boots Poetry Series, Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri. April 2018.

I'll return to the poets, but first some remarks on the Pulitzer Arts Foundation interior design.

Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri. April 2018.

Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri. April 2018.

Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri. April 2018.

Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri. April 2018.

Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri. April 2018.

Pulitzer Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri. April 2018.

Clean, industrial. Hard, but softened by colors. Strong, but giving way to the art it holds.

My notes on Ms. Long Soldier

Soft speaking, nighttime-soothing voice, unhurried pace.

"My belief is not a legend." Referencing how Native beliefs about how we all came about are as legitimate - as real - as Biblical (and other) beliefs about how we all came about.

A student asked her once what to write about, and she replied: "Whatever is or was missing in one's life - and start there."


My notes on Mr. Kearney

Smooth voice
Sings a song poem like drum beats
Many voices like changing radio stations frequently
I think of Tourette's Syndrome, his sounds, voices, movements


I've discovered that, as with songs, I often hear the sounds of poetry, but not so much the words. This was the case with Ms. Long Soldier and Mr. Kearney.

This is neither a reflection on the poets nor on me as a listener.


To meet two writers new to me, to hear their words from their mouths, and to enter into the space of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation building .... I am one lucky goose.