The Bard of Lawnboro?
Former NPR poet now a muse on local themes
Call her the Bard of Lawnboro. Former National Public Radio "roving poet" Molly Saccardo lives in the suburbs now, so that's what she writes about -- and where she's also trying to stir literary passions in the classroom, with a live poetry series and through an international online poetry challenge. But the Natick mom and Millis teacher prefers her own word, "Lawnboro," to describe her new, well, turf.
"I don't like the word suburban. Sub means less than. But we're not less than. I don't think people in the suburbs, women in particular, are seen for who they are. We get called soccer moms, but we're way more than that," Saccardo said.
Inspired by the grassy scenery, Saccardo replaces suburbs with Lawnboro. And it is within Lawnboro's green confines that she pens poems championing and reflecting on her neighbors.
Her verse imagines "golden bra" awards for "the woman with poise before 8 a.m." or "who is most adept at saying 'No.' " Single moms at holiday parties or women applying "lotions and creams from fat porcelain jars" have become her muses. She draws her themes from local encounters, such as a mother chatting field-side about the divorce her husband requested via e-mail.
"I'm trying to give voice to all the people who are out here," she said.
But Saccardo is also trying to rouse the citizenry. Her poems call on readers to "Rip off your sneakers. Flip off your fuzzy scuffies. Run out to the circling streets screaming at your dreams . . . . Your dreams will rise to dance with you on the wet lawns. As the motion lights flash on like private moons . . ."
Saccardo, 50, found her own voice as a new mom. While watching her son at Boston playgrounds in the early 1980s, she stole moments to write poems, just for herself.
"It just happened. I didn't know a lot of the other moms, so I wrote poetry instead of chatting," she said.
Eventually, she submitted a poem to Meanie, a former Boston-area literary magazine that announced it would publish anything. Not only did it print Saccardo's poem, editor Jim Behrle invited Saccardo to read at his poetry series, and that led to one of the most coveted jobs in poetry.
In 1997, Behrle was asked to submit poems to the producer of a new NPR show, "Here and Now." He included some of Saccardo's, and both writers were chosen to become the radio program's roving poets, which they remained for six eventful years.
At first, they simply penned poems about current issues or the show's feature stories, such as the Clinton impeachment or life at a fish market. But the roving poets soon began challenging readers to write poems of their own, based on a theme or poetry form. Saccardo and Behrle would then read a few on air.
"We did sonnets, poems of thanks, poems of praise, litanies, found poems, nonsense poems," said Saccardo. "It was the feature on the show that got the most response, and it was wonderful because so many people would write back and say, 'I haven't written a poem since high school or grade school, but I was inspired by your challenge and I just really had to write something.' "
Poems came in by the hundreds, but no one expected what would happen after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"We didn't even issue a challenge. But people, so many people, sent in poems spontaneously," she said. "People felt this was their outlet, so they just sent them in."
Soon, keeping that outlet open became Saccardo's personal mission.
"The thing that I love about poetry, and the thing that really worked for that show, is that it gave people a place to put their emotions," she said. "It wasn't therapy. It was just a place to put an emotion and look at it."
When "Here and Now" cut the poetry segment, along with most of its arts coverage, during a budget crunch in 2003, Saccardo carried on elsewhere. In the classroom, she encouraged her students to express themselves through verse. She taught at Our Lady of the Presentation School in Boston for 17 years, then at Wilson Middle School in Natick for a year. Now, as a new writing teacher at Millis Middle School, she has pre teens and teens musing about everything from their best friends to homework.
"Kids that age don't have enough ways to express themselves, but if you give them a form and a certain number of lines, it gives them a space to put their feelings and thoughts," she said.
Saccardo is still inspiring adults as well. As the "house poet" for Natick's Gallery 55, she is slated to begin hosting a monthly series, "The Living Poem, " on June 21. Just as she did for radio, she will issue a poetry challenge. An open mike will feature responses followed by a featured poet. Meanwhile, she's taking the idea worldwide with a parallel Internet challenge.
"The idea is that, whatever the theme, all their poems will come together to create the body of one big poem," she said.
A test run at Gallery 55 last fall packed the space to its 60-person capacity.
The first theme of the series is summer. To participate in the open mike, sign up at the gallery; it's first-come, first-served. And, no, the password to get in isn't Lawnboro.
"I'm not expecting Lawnboro to catch on," laughed Saccardo. "It's just something I say in my head."
Molly Saccardo reads at "Wake Up and Smell the Poetry" 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Hopkinton Cable Access & Media studio, 77 Main St., Hopkinton, with slam poet/novelist and guitarist Sou MacMillan of Somerville. Seating and open mike reservations can be made online at hcam.tv. Call 508-435-8638 for information. "The Living Poem" series presents "Summer" at 7:30 p.m. June 21 at Gallery 55, 55 South Main St., Natick. Call 508-740-0260 or visit Gallery55.com. "The Living Poem" website is to launch next month at Actual-Reality.co.uk/livingpoem.
HOUSE PEEPING: Stories about the Lilacs homestead in Framingham abound. There's the one about the two lion cubs that previous owners raised in its 22 sprawling rooms. Then there's the tale about how Henry Ford talked his friend Nathanial Bowditch into adding a ballroom so they could have grander parties. And, of course, there are the rumors of ghosts that laugh and waltz across the dance floor.
The Framingham Historical Society & Museum's seventh annual house tour Sunday is about much more than décor. The society's members turned up not only seven stunning homes and one historical church for this year's event, through dogged research they also created a tour steeped in history and sugared with fun facts.
"Once you start digging up the history of a house, it seems you could just keep finding more and more," said the group's executive director, Anne Murphy.
From Victorian gems to modern mansions and a quirky 1948 Cape, where the artist owner has transformed nearly every surface to a painted work of art (the living room floor is a mural of the ocean), there's plenty to ogle.
Also on Sunday, the Newton Historical Society is hosting the 24th edition of its house tour. The tour's nine homes range from a 1732 country home outfitted with historic furnishings to a 1930s subdivision house that was recently transformed into a modern marvel using a color palette of over 20 hues inspired by pebbles from New England sea shores.
The Newton Historical Society House Tour will be held from noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets purchased by Friday are $30 ($20 members); Tickets purchased on Saturday or Sunday are $35 ($25 members). Call 617-796-1450 or visit newtonhistorymuseum.org for information. The Framingham Historical Society House Tour will also be held noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, at $25, include a tea party at Edwards Church. Information at 508-872-3780. Tickets can be purchased online at framinghamhistory.org and at Framingham Historical Society, 16 Vernon St; Whole Foods, 575 Worcester Road; and Citizens Bank, 35 Edgell Road.
DANCE RETROSPECTIVE: For 20 years they've leapt, twirled, and contorted their bodies every which way, and now the Moving West Repertory Dance Theatre is celebrating. This weekend, as part of the Spring Performance Festival at Framingham's Performing Arts Center, its program "Pure Extracts" will feature troupe members reprising works from two decades of dancing.
In "Global Perspectives," giant red orbs become dance partners to an original score by Californian John Pledger.
In "Momento," pairs of dancers pull one another into patterns inspired by a Puccini aria.
African drumming fires up the action in "Mayibuya," which is the Zulu word for peace.
And "Death of a Promise" translates nostalgic yearnings into graceful, mournful movements.
"I never imagined we'd still be here dancing together 20 years later," said founder Lynne Johnson Grynkewicz, a Framingham resident. "It was tough in the beginning. People didn't know what modern dance was. They'd ask us if it meant dancing to disco. But we have a following now. We wanted to bring dance to the area and it seems we made a difference."
"Pure Extracts" will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 5 p.m. Sunday at PAC Performance Hall, 140 Pearl St., Framingham. Tickets: $12.50; seniors/children $10. Call 508-875-5554 or visit pacmetrowest.org for information.
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