By Tara Quist (Contributor) – Email
Last Thursday I attended a multilingual poetry reading at the Kariton Art Gallery, a small quaint building dressed in red sitting on the edge of Mill Lake. Hosted by Abbotsford Community Services, in partnership with CIVL Radio and the Abbotsford Arts Council, the event was designed to expose the unique talents and diversity found here in our community.
What I had expected of such an event and what I found to be the case were very different. I sat in a room with white walls decorated with art of an unusual, yet very inviting kind. The room smelled of sweets and warm tea, with the hum of light conversation; it felt like coming home at the end of a long day.
The Kariton was packed from wall to wall, each seat taken, and when none were left the remaining audience members opted to stand. In keeping with the homey atmosphere, the bond forged between performer and listener was like that of family.
Every word spoken, be it in English, Hindi, or Portuguese was met with an understanding translated through expression. In a way it didn’t matter what language was spoken, or what topic was chosen, these men and women all spoke with the same passion and possessed the same devotion to their craft, giving the gift of experiences long since past. Some poems were light-hearted, taking old nursery rhymes and leaving the audience in giggles. Others touched on traumas, exposing old wounds and laying them bare to the scrutiny of strangers. Strangers, but at the same time not, the Kariton was host to a community of friends.
When I arrived at the Kariton, I half expected a simple kind of poetry with short, polite praise, but what I got was passion beyond measure. Whether the poem was short or long, every end was met with applause that rang loud. Two hours passed like nothing, as if I had only just arrived to find the time run out. It left me wanting, longing for more while knowing there wasn’t any left — and I wasn’t alone. Each goodbye was touched with twinges of regret; no one desired an end to the proceedings. I couldn’t blame them.
