On July 14th, 2018, I had the honor of typewriting poems for guests of the grand re-opening of Old New-Gate Prison and Copper Mine. I grew up visiting the site, and have spent the last many years of its temporary closure walking the exterior of the grounds feeling the effusive energies that Mother Earth pushes forth from every corner of the property.
The poems I wrote on that day revolved around New-Gate and considered things like the landscape (geology, mineralogy, meteorology), the history (as a copper mine, a prison, a place of amusement and joy), and the metaphysical qualities that I can't help but consider whenever I contemplate the place. I wrote over sixty poems that day, mainly for children - many of whom ended up taking home some pretty goth-y verse as I had expected to be writing more for adults that day :).
It was a true pleasure to help all the visitors who asked for a poem consider their visit in a way they maybe hadn't considered before. I met so many incredible people and was so inspired by the day that I ended up finally finishing a zine long in the making - The Rocks and Stone That Made Me.
Below are just some of the poems I wrote that day -- I did not record them all.
The poems I wrote on that day revolved around New-Gate and considered things like the landscape (geology, mineralogy, meteorology), the history (as a copper mine, a prison, a place of amusement and joy), and the metaphysical qualities that I can't help but consider whenever I contemplate the place. I wrote over sixty poems that day, mainly for children - many of whom ended up taking home some pretty goth-y verse as I had expected to be writing more for adults that day :).
It was a true pleasure to help all the visitors who asked for a poem consider their visit in a way they maybe hadn't considered before. I met so many incredible people and was so inspired by the day that I ended up finally finishing a zine long in the making - The Rocks and Stone That Made Me.
Below are just some of the poems I wrote that day -- I did not record them all.