Preparing my yurt for the Poetry Festival (Photo: Emily O’Dell)
Last week, I curated an international poetry festival
in my spacious yurt
on the Silk Road.
As one of the participants pointed out,
centuries ago,
many travelers on the Silk Road
likely gathered in yurts
–just as we did that night–
to exchange poetry
in all different
tongues and tones.
By candlelight,
attendees to our event
treated us to poetry in English, Turkmen,
Serbian, Spanish, and Danish.
We were delighted by the selection
of original poetry,
as well as verses penned
by everyone
from Seamus Heaney to Omar Khayyam.
