WINDY CITY WORDS hosted by ChiRon Kingfish (Photo by Cathleen Schandelmeier, March 16, 2024).
Windy City Words opened the doors at 4251 N. Lincoln in Chicago for its inaugural poetry reading hosted by poet ChiRon Kingfish (Christopher Kuck) on Saturday March 16 at 8pm. Kingfish, a certified mental health counselor and former Waldorf School teacher, was invited by the Rudolf Steiner Branch Library to host an open mic poetry reading at the venue which boasts loft ceilings, plenty of room, and a Jewel right across the street. Colin Williams, the professional sound engineer in charge of Audible Sound Productions, and four very different poets provided the venue with a festive air that included a turntable spinning the tunes of, for example, Miles Davis, and Earth Wind and Fire.
Kingfish started the evening with a story about William Wells, the reason behind the name of Wells Street that extends from Old Town through downtown Chicago. The story is epic in proportion to the larger than life personality of a Wells who was also known as “Carrot” for his red hair. Wells was acculturated to working with both indigenous people of the Americas, as well the colonialists. The story ends with the Potawatami eating the heart of Wells, who knew he was meeting his end, and painted his face a solemn black in the Miami tradition as a result. Poetry legends abounded that Saturday night as DH Robman (Doug Binkley) took the stage.
The evening did a deep dive into Robman’s sonnets, who created work honoring those fighting for Ukrainian freedom. As the only female-identifying poet in the group, I did three pieces slated to be performed or Women’s History Month, on Saturday, March 23rd at 1 pm in The Art Center Highland Park, 1957 N. Sheridan Road. Steven Kerr picked up the beat with his rhythmic hip hop influenced poetry that evolved into a political monologue. Dawi Opara wrapped up the poetry with excerpts from his book. Opara also has a side hustle of selling records on Maxwell Street, on Sundays, and has vintage vinyl records for sale, many of which are still in their original shrink wrapped packages.
Kingfish plans on continuing the Saturday night poetry reading on a monthly basis, with the next one scheduled for Saturday, April 20th at 8 pm.
Poetry in Chicago 