Music and Poetry at the Drawing Room

My usual routine is to do my washing at the launderette fairly early on Friday afternoons, but what with one thing and another it was ten past six when I finally transferred my washing from the washer to the dryer. I knew that there was a free event on at the Drawing Room (which used to be Mayall's the Jewellers), and when I got there the shop was full, with standing room only at the back. In fact, I ended up sitting on the floor, almost underneath a three legged table with a jug of cow parsley on it.
At the front of the shop were fiddler Alan Cooper, cellist Di Esplin, and poet Simon Armitage. The musicians were adding background music to the poetry. However, they were quite conscious of the possibility that they might drown out his voice, so it tended to be a bit of improvised music with the poems slotted in between. They hadn't rehearsed, but they are so good at playing together it sounded fantastic anyway.
I think my favourite poems came from a time that Simon went on a 10 day silent retreat, with meditation for 11 hours a day, especially the one about the Male Ego, in which the men's side of the meditation hall was full of the sounds of coughing, farting and belching (as if to say "I'm here! Look at me!") while the women's side was silent apart from the odd sneeze every two or three days.
I also enjoyed the poem he finished on, looking for Christ at the Warren in Hay, and deciding that seeking was probably better than finding.
The event was Alan's idea, and the owner of the shop generously allowed them to use the space. I saw several local people there, including Chris the Bookbinder, who also produces Quirk poetry magazine.
As they were packing up at the end, Alan said that he was on his way to the Bean Box, in the garden by Hay Bridge, to play there for the rest of the evening. He said there would also be pizza.
I had to go and pick up my washing, and when I walked down past the Poetry Bookshop another poetry event was going on in there, with several poets reading their work.