On December 28, multi-talented performer cat bradley will perform her solo show “I Want You to Want Me” at The North Star Lounge, the second showing at the venue this year.
Bradley’s journey into poetry began two years ago after moving back home to Ann Arbor from New York. A skill that she says began as a struggle with learning to heal from past trauma.
“I always rhymed in the shower, but I was not writing poetry because I disrespected rhyming. I felt like it was a lower art form, even though I always love rappers,” bradley said. “I felt like poetry was something else. And I realized that understanding my own internalized racism was so much a part of why I was not writing poetry.”
For bradley, being known solely as a poet is an injustice to her truth. A simple scroll through her website introduces the virtuoso as a poet, embodiment coach, “hype womxn,” and a litany of additional titles, each culminating to someone who proudly states that their purpose is to “experience and embody wholeness.” Whether that is thriving in her role as a yogi, living her truth as a pansexual being, or achieving her goal of showcasing healing in a near-brutally honest light.
This should come as no surprise: within just two years of entering the poetry scene, the Ann Arbor native—who expresses a desire to create deep connections—has already achieved significant success. One of her latest accomplishments is headlining her upcoming show at The North Star Lounge, titled “I Want You to Want Me.” This one-hour showcase will feature bradly performing poems she has crafted throughout her brief but impressive career.
“The theme of this show is longing. It is an event for people to be with feelings and our longing to belong,” bradley said. “My idea was calling it an event. I wanted to feel like we were there together. I want to feel like you came to something that was a community event, that you could feel other people were changing, shifting, or feeling things as you were. It is an event for people to be with feeling.”
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Regarding the content of her poetry, those in attendance will hear many stories ranging from her relationship with her parents to her expansive relationship with poetry itself, one of the events beginning works titled “A Poem About a Poem.”
“The first time I was ever on the stage, I was 25 years old in AA, and I’ve been sober for over 16 years,” bradley said. “When you ask how it felt to be on stage, I believe it is Heaven. I believe Heaven is here on Earth. My soul’s authentic expression. That is my body’s bliss to me. I’m on my purpose, and you can not give me a better moment than that.”
Bradley admits that each poem took a week to six months to craft, referring to herself as a channel for the written works to thrive.
“It is dramatic to say, but I am bleeding on the page. The work that I have done to heal is these poems. I do not think of myself as the writer of these. I think of myself as the instrument,” bradley said. “My work outside of poetry is embodiment. The practice of authenticity is saying what I value. The poems are meant to be that.”
This performance is the second event at The North Star Lounge, with the first happening on September 7. She says that for this performance, she wants nothing more than for anyone attending to attend with “openness, open mind and open heart.”
“What I want them to experience is that their presence matters,” bradley said. “When the energy of the heart flows, and when you are in a space where multiple people are allowing feelings to flow, it is an experience. You do not have to know anything. You have to come and be willing to be with the people you are with.”
Antonio Cooper is a freelance journalist from Detroit, Michigan. His coverage of music festivals and interviews with local celebrities appeared in The E-Current Magazine, The Detroit Metro Times, XXL Magazine, RichMagDigital, The Ann Arbor Observer, and Pop Magazine.
