Arts Walk Riverside Public Library

Thursday nights are lit in downtown Riverside.
Eclectic electricity is in the air with vendors, artists, dancers, musicians, and poets. The creative spirit reigns, mingling the inventive new with the tried and true. 
When Cati Porter, founder and director of Inlandia, invited me to be a featured reader, there was a yes and yes that filled me with excitement. National Poetry Month featured a reader alongside Honduran social justice poet, videographer, and CSUSB professor Alex Avila, who was a new adventure at the Riverside Public Library. I forgot how much I love the Mission Inn and the classic architecture of the area. There is a unique rootedness for the Inland Empire region, which feels like ocean of centuries and the current wave of revolution.  
Being in a library, family-friendly was the tone for the evening. Alex engaged the audience with folklore participation and poetry peppered with Spanish for flavor. I shared poems that celebrate my love of poetry and the innocence of children.
Thank you Cati Porter, founder of Inlandia, and host for the evening, for the opportunity to celebrate National Poetry Month in a delightful venue of culture, literature and kinship.   

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