Poetry Reading Personal Review

 Written by Miranda Fuentes

    When attending a poetry reading event, the experience is completely separate from one’s expectations. I certainly had not expected the atmosphere to resonate within me as it did: the calm lighting, the silence of the attendees and the loudness of their focus, and the poets themselves. They had certainly opened themselves up to the audience, not only through their poetry, but the way they had dealt with dozens of eyes on them. Some played off nervousness with humor while others masked it with confidence. There were few who did not hide their shyness at all. Getting a sense of the poet’s personality can play a part in a poem’s effect when read by said poet.

Sometimes the poems do not reflect your expectations about a person. You could be surprised about the dark things a cheery person could write about and vice versa. As previously mentioned, what you experience is separate from what you expect. Although I had not been given the opportunity to read a poem of my own, I had no qualms about being a spectator. There was a comforting feeling in just letting go of my own thoughts and purely listening to works I had never read before. I found it fascinating how the staff and students could find poems in many places, whether from their own creativity, a person they admire, or even video games. Yes, one of the poems read was from a video game called “Night in the Woods”. As a student in the game design department, I was very familiar with the reference, so it really stuck with me. It shows that people can find things in common with one another at these readings. I had not seen a single familiar face at the event, but it still felt refreshing to be surrounded by strangers. The limitless potential of who you’re going to meet is quite exciting.