The Mischief of Poetry: A Workshop with Ekiwah Adler-Belendez

Well of Being is delighted to invite you to join us for a special circle with poet Ekiwah Adler Beléndez! You may remember him as Rosie Beléndez's son, the poet behind the exquisite poem, "The Homeopath," that was read during our last circle with Rosie herself. This 90 minute workshop will be a medley of evocative poetry readings, vibrant prompts, writing time & reflection. Designed for any and all, Ekiwah invites us to reconnect with the sense of play, risk-taking, creativity & spontaneity that poetry connects us to.

In Ekiwah's words ...

"When I came up with the title for this workshop, The Mischief of Poetry, Pavi Mehta distinctively grasped what I meant. In keeping with the mischief of poetry, I will openly borrow her words, which feel strangely like my own: 'Joy and playfulness are subversive. Poetry knows no dogma. It cannot hold a straight face for long. It knows how to be serious the way children can be serious without giving up our sacred capacity for silliness and spontaneity. Perhaps poetry is a precise way of admitting ignorance, and stumbling into insight.' What is poetry? Something that illuminates some of our deepest concerns and fears and yet escapes the tyranny of narrow definitions. I am melodious sweetness and refreshing bitterness. I am this and also its opposite. What does that great shapeshifter have to tell us about ourselves and the world? Just when we think we know where we're going, our own language may surprise us and run ahead of us in another direction. We might discover what poetry is every time we read and every time we write, but I also have some answers I would love to share about the way the forms of a poem can dance through our bodies. Mary Oliver writes: Though I play at the edges of knowing, truly I know our part is not knowing, but looking, and touching, and loving

What have we given away of ourselves that we must steal back again? How do we find the mischief and the bravery to do it? To look, to touch, and love? Let's find out together. Let's play at the edges of knowing.

No prior experience needed :)

The workshop will include a combination of vibrant poetry reading, prompts, reflections and writing time.

If you'd like to join, RSVP here. We look forward to the possibility of having you with us!

Ekiwah Adler Beléndez is a poet, father, and disability rights advocate born with cerebral palsy in the mountain village of Amatlán, Mexico. His most recent work, Love on Wheels, is a nine-year exploration of disability, desire/desirability, longing, and self-love that has been presented throughout Mexico at disability and art festivals. He reads in prisons, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers, and is a member of the international dance group Legacy, which fuses Butoh, contemporary dance, theater, and poetry in multimedia performances. Equally at ease in Spanish and English, Ekiwah describes disability not as a battle but as "a long and complicated love story." He lives in Amatlán with his son, Lucio Valentín. Read more about his astonishing journey here. Photo credit: Iby del Agua

5 musings from a recent interview with Ekiwah

“Accessibility must not concern itself only with physical access to buildings. It must also promote imaginative access to the exuberance of the Spirit, which needs no ramps for us to enter.”

“Freedom is not a place—it’s an attention.”

“Revision is an opportunity for spiritual growth.”

“I bargained for this wheelchair. Every day the bargain renews itself. Can I really live up to that sentence—the wheelchair and whatever circumstance comes my way, are one more excuse for joy or for learning or permission? It's definitely not a given—it's something to live up to.”

“Poetry and generosity have saved my life, and they continue to save my life in both metaphorical and very literal ways. The great poem that’s out there is the life that we live and breathe every day.”