In support of one of my best friends from home, I went home
to Huntington, Long Island to go to a poetry reading, during which she was
reading one of her own poems. Maddie (my friend) had entered her poem into the
Poetry for the HART-Teen Poetry Project, which was a poetry contest open to
submissions from young poets ages 14-18. Local area poets, youth group leaders,
and representatives of the Public Art Advisory Committee reviewed all poetry
entered and picked a small selection to be read at this reading, where young
poets could receive awards based on the merit of their poetry.
The location was Walt Whitman’s
birthplace historic site, which is located in Huntington Station, and was a
beautiful and symbolic place to hold the reading filled with quotes from
Whitman’s poetry. Chairs and lights were set up around a small stage so that
people could come and watch their siblings, friends, children, and young
writers, read their poetry in a very intimate setting.
The topics
of the poems varied quite a bit. There were poems about beloved pets, lost
relationships, loneliness, love, loss, and fear. What stood out to me most from
this reading was the power of the passion expressed by those who read their
poetry. There were many people who did not enunciate well and read their work
timidly, without much confidence or conviction, and then there were those who
stood up and spoke the words they had written and used the power of their
convictions to work to their advantage. In many cases, those who read blandly
and quietly did actually have beautifully written pieces and some of those who
spoke out loudly and passionately did not have the best rhyme schemes,
messages, or words but were the ones whose poems stood out and moved the
audience most. To me, this reading exemplified the power and importance of
individual artistic expression through poetry, and it was an incredible
experience to watch someone I love be recognized for her talents.
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