Carbon Project Manifesto

What on earth does she think she is doing?

The Carbon Project is a strange mixture of improv theatre, zen meditation and poetry boot camp,  influenced strongly by the works of Dorothea Brande, Natalie Goldberg and Julia Cameron.  Like those artists of the sixties who made installations of themselves by living in shop windows, being a Café Poet in this way is a very public affair. It’s a seemingly high-risk venture offering to write poems on the spot for all comers to Lá Tropicana Café.

Literary purists might shudder at the potential for creating dreadful drivel.  Let them. It’s not that I don’t care about literary quality.  It’s more that I’ve reached the point of being open to what comes, without so much ego investment in the form.  Of course the poems are not guaranteed to be of even quality.  But there’s no more or less likelihood of that occurring, even if you spend months locked up in your ivory tower or garret.  And I don’t even think it’s desirable. My idea of poetry is more akin to the clothes labels that tell buyers ‘irregularity in colour and weave is part of the charm of a handmade garment’.

The Carbon Project may or may not end up with work that I would wish to take beyond the project itself.  Meanwhile, people are strangely touched by the experience of having a poem created for them.   Café patrons can watch poetry being an ordinary part of local life.  And as a poet, I am developing a sturdy approach to my writing, trusting the process, and not being overly attached to the outcome.