Charlotte Readers Podcast: Kathie Collins

Author Kathie Collins reads four poems, starting with El Camino, a revealing neighborhood walk that tips her hat to a friend who was walking that ancient pilgrimage trail. She then brings us inside, to the kitchen sink, where she explores the traditional roles of wife and mother, and then into the Garden of Eden, but this time the story is told from the serpent’s point of view. We finish up in Home Depot, where Kathie ties the smells of fresh cut wood to a young girl’s past in her father’s workshop.

Kathie is a poet and co-founder of Charlotte Center for Literary Arts, a nonprofit dedicated to elevating the literary arts in the Charlotte area. Kathie earned her graduate degree in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she serves as an adjunct instructor. Her poetry has appeared in Immanence, Kakalak, Bible Workbench, and Between and her chapbook, Jubilee, was published by Main Street Rag.

The readings – in order:

El Camino  

On this neighborhood walk, the poet slows down and sees things and people in ways not seen before, as if she is on a pilgrimage to understand her surroundings.

“Take off your shoes and leave through the back. Don’t

bother locking the door or brushing your teeth. Your

pajama bottoms have no pocket for a key, and the dogs

you meet along the way will love all the more the ripeness

of your breath when you bend to properly greet them”

[The rest of the poem is on the show]

Cleanliness and Godliness

In this poem, the narrator tackles the mundane and comes out on the other side.

“Brown flakes from this morning’s

breakfast of champions

have turned to concrete

in the kitchen sink

and I am

a woman possessed”

[The rest of the poem is on the show]

Serpent Sets the Record Straight

In this poem, the creation story is told from the perspective of the serpent, who bonds with Eve.

While God was “naming things, asserting his dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, she and I moved through the garden speaking to one another.”

“Male and female he created

them

but it was she who was my friend.”

[The rest of the poem is on the show]

Home Depot

In this poem, the poet makes a connection with her past, but she does it “on aisle two,” where “fluorescent bulbs buzz,” and it takes her “more than forty years away flipping the switch that sets Dad’s shop lights humming” and where she could “hear the whir of the band saw” and “feel the heft of his hammer in my still small hand.”

“I invent reasons to go:

sudden, urgent needs like light

bulbs, window cleaner, hooks for pictures

I never get around to hanging, cans of high-gloss,

apple-red paint with which to spray the wicker

on the screen porch—next weekend for sure.”

[The rest of the poem is on the show]