community

Lake effect. Orange pride. Salt potatoes. Wegmans. These are the terms that my eager family instilled in me upon learning that my alma mater would be Syracuse University, located in the very place that both sides of my lineage sprout from. As an Arizonian accustomed to readily available Mexican food and sprawling acres of saguaro cacti under open, dry skies, even the idea of snow was foreign to me. I cherished these new additions to my lexicon with excitement and care, looking forward to the day they would no longer feel strange rolling off my tongue.

Love can be an erupting volcano, purring, the emotional trajectory of a yo-yo or even an aardvark. These were just some of the thoughts shouted out by eager participants in a free love poetry workshop held at the DeWitt Community Library. Local poet and retired librarian Martin Willitts Jr., 65, had invited the dozen or so members of the crowd to expand their definition of love through free association, while he scrawled their responses on a large sheet of paper.   

Geoffrey Navias tends to have a deadpan expression most of the time. But when he dons a mask or works with a puppet, his movements bring the character to life.

“Creative art is a lie,” the artistic director of Open Hand Theater told a room full of Syracuse University and State University of New York Environmental Science and Forestry students on a recent Saturday morning in The Warehouse downtown.  “It’s a lie. It’s not really here. 

Every day, Syracuse University Assistant Director of Recreational Services, Seneca Wilson, coaches basketball at ESF.  He checks the gym facilities to make sure everything runs smoothly.  He answers phones in his office. When he gets off work, he writes poetry.