In honor of National Poetry Month, Niles West held an assembly for students and staff to perform poetry. Guest poet Tarik Dobbs and the West slam poetry team, A Tribe Called West, participated in the event. It occurred in the Student Commons for English classes from third to ninth period on Friday, April 12.
“I read a poem by [myself] that doesn’t have a name, but I call it body image. it was very nerve-racking reading a very serious topic in front of a lot of my peers, but the applause made me feel better. Poetry is a very fun way to express yourself and write, it’s one of my favorite ways to write because there [are] not many rules to it,” senior Melanie Molitor said.
Many students on the slam poetry team read their own poems for the first time, like Molitor. Others decided to read their favorite well-known works. Along with Molitor, slam members and seniors Eleena Kopic, Gencie Ortiz, Will Rousseau and English teacher Paul Bellwoar participated in the performances.
“All the poems I read were written by myself except for one at the end where we ended up with two minutes to fill and needed a much shorter one which was ‘Architects Watercolor’ by Arthur Sze,” junior Eleena Kopic said.
Guest poet Dobbs shared a few of his works, which can be found on his website, Haymarket. From Dearborn, MI, he holds an MFA in creative writing and is a Fellow of the Poetry Foundation Ruth Lilly & Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg. Some of his poems appear in the Best New Poets and Best of the Net anthologies, along with other magazines.
“Tarik was awesome, he was very inspirational and he didn’t want to make everything about him, but he was very nice and wanted to get to know all of us,” Molitor said.
Several English classes visited the commons to listen and show support for their peers. Students gave their thoughts on poems that stood out to them.
“The poem ‘Listen Up Son’ spoke to me the most. This poem gave me a different viewpoint and insight on that night of Jesus’ first miracle. Not many people view poetry as an important viewpoint in our lives. However, I consider it a diverse expression through artistry and emotion that we can relate to,” sophomore Teresa Gattuso said.
Students who attended the event also shared why they believe Poetry Month should be celebrated.
“I think poetry month is important because these poems show a variety of different experiences and feelings we tend to overlook or de-value in our daily lives. Poetry can be expressed as a unique form of art that really puts you in a different perspective of the world that we live in. It is a great outlet for some people too,” sophomore Madeline Vega said.
