The theme of the day was WATER, linked with Nestle’s plan to bottle water from the aquifer on Middlebrook Road, former Pilkington Township.

Michael Basinski, Curator of the Poetry Collection at the State University of New York at Buffalo, shared his knowledge and poetry, reading from various works, some of which “contained water in one form or another.” Some of the poetry was from script; some unconventional, not to be read at home while sipping a Manhattan, which is to say he performed poetry and provided information about the Poetry Collection via dazzling improvisation! (Our website features a photograph of Michael’s intricately rendered “Something Watur Poem” by which he entered into his spontaneous performance.) Micheal performs his work as a solo poet and in ensemble with BuffFluxus and the Don Metz Experience. Among his recent books of poetry are Piglittuce (Propolis Press – 2013), Learning Poem About Learning About Being A Poet (Press Board Press – 2012) and Trailers (BlazeVox – 2011).  Recent visual opems (yes, opems) located in: http://www.wordforword.info

Also, on the subject of water, we were delighted to have Georgia Simms, dance artist, choreographer, and facilitator specialist who is passionate about “doing democracy and governance differently.” She is actively experimenting with arts-based approaches to civic engagement, and seeks to creatively animate learning processes with experiences that are physical, emotional, and energetic. Her site-specific choreography, inspired by a strong desire to raise awareness about protecting water, has been presented in Downtown Guelph around the St. George’s fountain and in the water feature in Market Square. Glass of water in hand, Georgia gave a stunning performance on the veranda of our stone house.

We then moved down to Beaver House where Morvern McNie and Jerry Prager engaged their audience with recently created poems also on the subject of water.

After the readings and performance we offered the usual finger-food supper and wine so that guests could speak to the artists and each other, while enjoying a beautiful fall evening. No bottled water was to be had.