-- March 26, 1999 *** "An Evening of Poetry and Songs from the Heart'', one of the wrap-up events for Poetry Week, proved to be a rather mixed bag of brilliance and mediocrity.

I'll start with the hands-down highlight of the evening, which was the poetry of visiting New York-based poet Nadine Mozon.

She performed while reciting her work, and challenged members of the audience to view poetry in a more constructively critical light through the sheer force of her talent.

Ms Mozon's performance was particularly effective for two reasons: her willingness to engage her audience as part of her performance, and her ability to capture both the humour and bittersweet poignancy of memories.

And in fact, some of her best pieces were based on recollections of childhood memories, including "'Member de Day'' about a rainy afternoon spent playing indoors and "Daddy's Dancing Again'', a fond remembrance of a father no longer living.

Ms Mozon's poem about poems was particularly appropriate for the event, since it captured the spirit and urgency behind the process of writing poetry: "Words making my hands itch to write them down, to lift my spirits, to help me see...experience always being greater than the words can fully claim...''. The local talent that stood out as being particularly noteworthy was, oddly enough at Poetry Week, singers instead of poets.

Sondra Choudhury's rich, husky voice absolutely enthralled the audience as she sang a gospel song, a cappella version of the Lord's Prayer, and "There's A Place For Us'' from West Side Story. She's got incredible range, and the low notes sent shivers up my spine. I think I'm not alone in saying I could've easily appreciated her in a solo concert.

Also, a group of boys (I believe they're part of a church group) aged nine to 12 called "Son Rise'' were unabashedly self-confident in their performance which actually was the first performance for the evening.

The rest of the show featured poetry by Michael Bickley, Abdallah Ahad (who must have the smoothest voice in Bermuda), Vernette Dorian and ''Lady Di''.

And although I can appreciate the talent of poets such as Mr. Bickley and Mr.

Ahad in particular who I think are good at what they do, I would've liked to have seen more local poets straying away from conventional, traditional styles and seen a bit more experimentation with the art, using less rhyme and more rhythm -- but that's a very personal preference of mine.

And although organiser/MC Leon Edmead is a well-known... er, character...in the community famous for his rather flamboyant and humourous personality, there were points during the show where I was offended by aggrandisement and wisecracks that were tacky and totally inappropriate to the event.

Mozon lights up Poetry Week I'm very pleased that poetry has finally gotten some of the national recognition that it deserves through the very existence of a National Poetry Week, largely thanks to Mr. Edmead's efforts along with Carole Clarke, but perhaps he might consider playing a more behind-the-scenes role in such future events...just a suggestion.

Anyway, the event was important for bringing some of the silent, shhh-don't-tell-anyone-I-write-poetry people out of the woodwork, and hopefully next year's event will see an even stronger attendance.

Kim Dismont Robinson Nadine Mozon