By Charlotte Fontaine
NASHVILLE, TN — A couple hundred people gathered in a sea of red drapes, lively jazz music, and a menu of land and sea foods at City Winery last Friday night to enjoy a Valentine’s Day themed installment of “Soul Food Poetry Cafe, Love Letters Vol 2.” Their first event took place back on February 2nd of 2007 on historical Jefferson Street. The showcase’s bio fittingly states that they are “Nashville’s longest-running Live Music and Spoken Word Event founded by Imani Rhema.” The evening was filled with energetic live music that was covered in a layer of romantic spoken word poetry like chocolate on a strawberry given to a lover on the calendar’s most romantic day of the year.
Founder Imani Rhema opened the show, glowing and beaming as a newly married woman herself. “Tonight is all about love, we love with poetry, we do love with love songs,” she intimated. She asked the audience to applaud for themselves and for finding love, as she canvassed the room: “Who here has been together for five years…ten…twenty..thirty..even forty?” Her excitement as she announced who would be performing for the night was palpable through her energy and delivery.
Singer Alexus took the stage with an animated back band who also performed with powerhouse featured vocalist Elvie Williams. Zacarra Heath was another musical guest for the evening who took over the stage with loving confidence. Each with incredibly riveting and powerful vocals, the singers performed their sets with a captivated audience, dancing and swaying.
Poet Jamspoken was enchanting. “Have we got anybody that’s in love tonight?” she asked the audience. “I wrote this poem as a reflection of the type of man I want God to send me,” she said. “I have the admiration for blackness and love, and tonight we celebrate them both . . . even when I was under construction, your love was always constructive.”
Notably, poet Patrick Walker Reese “PWR” was a stand out performer of the evening. “I got into poetry as a way to release emotions,” he opened. “I am honored to perform tonight on this stage. Honored because tonight’s topic is love. Love is what inspired me to write. For males, especially African-American males, love is something we don’t always have a way to describe or understand so poetry is a way of putting words to things I can’t explain.” His first piece, titled “Love Is” oozed with a realistic take on romance with lines like “I fell in love . . . like she planned the event . . . Do you know the feeling of love with no ceiling? . . . Love will make you put away childish things . . . When you love like this, I don’t see no point in dying.”
Dre The Poet also had the audience whooping, hollering, and swooning. “You’ve gotta have cards and gift bags, you’ve gotta make that sister laugh with all the paragraphs . . . and when she kicks off her shoes, each and every toe has to have your undivided attention,” he spoke as the audience sat quietly hanging off his words sipping on champagne. “Chivalry is waiting to wait as long as it takes . . . cause in the 21st century real romance is in a state of emergency, the urgency . . .” His poetry had in the background a sprinkle of jazz. “LOVE NEVER FAILS!” he had the audience excitedly chant and repeat.
Love Letters was a beautiful tribute and celebration to romantic love, partnership, devotion, and steady passion. You can check out when Soul Food Poetry Cafe will be having their next event on their website https://www.soulfoodpoetrycafe.com, or follow them on social media (@soulfoodpoetrycafe). Love Never Fails!
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