Poetry Reading

I went to the lowertown reading jam on October 23. It took place at the “Black Dog Café” which is a small café inside an old brick building. It reminded me a lot of tea garden. Not to draw stereotypes, but the ambiance this poetry slam gave was “hippyish.” 

I was amazed at how many different age groups were present. I saw families with babies and toddlers, teenagers, college students, adults and even some elders. It shocked me because in class we were warned that there was a high possibility that we’d be the youngest people present. Not only did the range of ages shock me, but the amount of people that were there! I walked in 10 minutes early and all the tables and chairs were already taken. Everyone was sitting with tea or coffee along with a pen and notebook ready to take notes. 

Out of the multiple poets we saw, my favorite was Marcus Harcus. In fact he is running for State Representative. Consequently, his poem was about politics and how our society needs to provide more equal opportunities. It discussed how everyone should have an equal voice despite demographic statues, race, and age. He talked about his campaign and how he sought to make the government more diverse. Unfortunately Harcus doesn’t have a book or any poems online (like all of the poets there). He was so dramatic that after reading the pages his poems were written on he’d throw them off to the side. For me, this showed how much he cared about politics and equality. This changed my perspective on poetry because Marcus Harcus talked about a present issue in our society. It was more interesting to me because it was something I could relate to. I really enjoyed this poetry slam because I was able to see more than one poet. 

^ This is Marcus Harcus

Marcus Harcus Website: http://marcusharcus.org/