Why The Columbus Poetry Scene Is The Best

For the last few weeks I have been going regularly to the Writer’s Block Poetry open mic, and I am very glad I have.  Each week is totally different from the last.  Sure, you see a lot of the same poets, but there are new ones every week and there are new poems every too, and all so very different.  I’ve heard so many great poems these last few weeks and it makes me proud to be a part of it all.

A few weeks back, four weeks ago, I think it was, I went by myself, unable to find anyone else to go with, which was okay.  We had four virgins new to the mic that night and actually started with one—Erik.  Erik blew me away.  He was incredible.  Never would have guessed this was his first time on the mic.  He read a poem about his Viking/Norwegian heritage that involved references to the fallopian tube and conference calls.  Erik has been back ever since and he’s awesome every time.  There was a slam that night too and I considering participating—it would have been by first slam—but decided against it, not really feeling that prepared.  I opted for the open mic instead and read something a little different; I’d tell you what it’s called, but it still remains untitled and I forget the lame title I gave it the other night in order to submit it to a publication.  It got pretty good acceptance from the crowd (though they were upset when I said it didn’t have any f-bombs and demanded I insert one).  Hanif really liked it, which was a huge ego boost because honestly, he’s probably my favourite poet out of all of them; his work never fails to amaze me and has been pretty influential on me.  I was actually finally able to attend his open mic, Pen & Palette, the following night, having a free Thursday night for a change.  Pen & Palette is a totally different atmosphere, but still an awesome night.  Hanif is a really great host and he gave me a pretty fantastic introduction, accusing me of cussing out children at the Columbus Arts Festival; Scott Woods actually gave me a similar introduction the night before, but Hanif took it to a whole other level.  I read the same untitled poem that I read the night before, which again received a good response.  At Pen & Palette you’re allowed to read more than one poem though, so I also read “You Can Be Superman” which is the very first poem I read at Writer’s Block a little over a year ago.  Although I’ve only read it twice, I have it memorized, so I read it entirely for memory; this was a first.  I wasn’t at all nervous about it, which surprised me, and don’t recall any errors.  Hopefully soon (maybe next week?) I can get back to Pen & Palette.

Last week was another slam at Writer’s Block and I decided to participate this time.  I was a little leery at first, especially knowing I was competing against people on the Nationals team, people whose work I really admire, but my friend Sarah from high school, who has been coming along with me and has started reading herself, basically forced me to do it.  It was a good decision though.  I really enjoyed doing it.  I drew 5^th when we drew numbers for our order, I was 5^th after the 1^st, and finished 5^th out of 7^th overall with (I believe) a 53.2 out of a possible 60.  Considering Vernell Bristow scored a perfect 30 the second round, I think I did quite alright for my first time.  The first round I read “You Can Be Superman” as it is a very strong poem about a boy killing himself after dealing with too much verbal abuse from his dad, and as I said before, it’s the only piece I have memorized.  For the second round I read the Justin Bieber poem, and boy did I get hell for that.  The crowd participation was great, but I’m pretty sure I got booed at one point in time, though I know it was all in good fun—besides, I was comparing the Biebs to Freddie Mercury, so I probably deserved it.  I was told I did a “swell job” though by my new friend Jacob, so I’ll take it.  I’m definitely looking forward to doing more slams in the future.

I am very grateful that I have found this poetic haven in Columbus.  Every week is something new and a guaranteed great time.  It has given me a great outlet and something new to look forward to every week.  I’ve been pretty sporadic about going until now and now I really want to be there every week and start going to more events and being more involved.  Everyone involved has been so welcoming and has really made me feel a part of something and for that, I want to say thanks.  Since I’ve started doing this, the quality of my work has definitely improved and I think I’ve really started to find my style.  It’s kind of funny because like I said, Hanif is probably one of my favourite poets out there and I definitely draw some influence and inspiration from not just his writing, but his performances as well and I look up to him as a writer.  But he’s fairly new to this too, despite heading to Nationals next week, and he’s out there saying this same kind of stuff I’m saying.  Hanif, Vernell, Izetta, Scott, Ed, Alexis, Louise, so many great poets out there, so many great people out there.  And that’s just a few of them.  But they all deserve so much more credit than they get.  The Columbus poetry scene has easily made a difference in my life, and I’m barely even in it.  I mentioned my new buddy Jacob—he’s young, just about to start his last year of high school.  He came out to Writer’s Block a couple weeks ago for the first time and read a poem and it was really good.  He was back the following week, the week of the slam, and he read another great one to start off the show.  I asked him after the show if he’d be interested in having something published in Some Weird Sin and I think I made his day by asking him that.  From what he’s shared with me, he’s a very talented young man and we’ve stayed up to the late hours a few times now talking about writing, both mine and his.  I’m very glad he came to Writer’s Block because not only have I made a new friend and get to publish the writing of a great writer (his first publication, mind you), but also because he’s going to be able to hone his skills so much more and he is going to get so much better than he already is by being around such amazing writers and hearing their work and being able to share his work with them.  It makes me really excited for the future.