growing up is hard

Growing close is probably harder.

Remember when life was all about the bell? First period, second period, little lunch, third period, big lunch, fourth period, home time? Where there were structures in place to make sure you knew what the hell was going on? Wasn’t it grand? No surprises, thanks, Tony.

Friday night, at Metro Arts, between 6-7PM, I’ll be taking short, manageable amounts of time to set clear parameters for closeness as a part of “A Timely Act of Intimacy”. There might be a bell. But probably not. In theory it will go as follows:

Eleanor Jackson with EXIST ARI have created a suite of 20 poems for Friday Night: 1 November. A Timely Act of Intimacy, is a series of poetry based, proximity focused one-on-one performances that look at issues of secrecy, disclosure, the privacy of the home, the unspoken ugliness of those we know closely, as well as the kind of cinematic beauty that comes from ungarnished view of those we love.

Each performance poem is different, none have been performed before, and some I hope never to tell them again. Some are simple, others are joyful, one or two are not so much. All take as their departure point the idea that intimacy is somehow started by a contribution, a self-disclosure, a moment or more of propinquity (physical closeness) and the intent to somehow connect. You can have that. I think I can give that to you. These are my acts of disclosure. Though, in the time allocated to us (On this earth? In this room? For this performance?)  we won’t have time for it to evolve, for there to be a natural closeness, we won’t be able to reciprocate, and neither of us will be sure if this is a desirable experience, will we? It’ll just be a little bit of time, with a couple of people, with some words, ephemeral, confusing, lost. There’s a certain kind of courage in ambiguity, distinguishing the quest for intimacy with its temporary experience, watching something broken fly by.