National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day - a review by James Dennis (year 11)

               Being a nationally celebrated day for something as renowned as poetry, certainly, on arrival, we didn't see what we expected. A small stage, with a few microphone stands and chairs. The seating arrangements could have seated about 100, give or take, with a row of cushions at the front. It looked more like an ‘open-mic' night, than a poetry recital.

                Fast approaching 2 o'clock (the starting time of the event), and the area was still relatively empty, then the poetry enthusiasts flooded in, filling the seats, cushions, and even parts of the floor. The MC's opened up the event, with two differing styles of poetry, one with a more traditional vibe, the other with a ‘rap' vibe/rhythm, each with pleasing content to just about everyone in the audience, which was nice to hear. They really relaxed me, along with other people I'm sure. The theme of the day was ‘Hero/Heroines', every poet had a poem about this theme, then branched off with a few others.

                After the opening, the organisers had an activity for the audience to do; it was called the ‘Beach Ball Haiku': each beach ball would have a different word on it; they would be tossed around the audience until we were told to stop. Each time, the words on the balls were given to a poet, who made them into poems. The ‘Oos' and ‘Ahhs' were prominent in the audience as the poet finished, I guess they shared in my thought of thinking how you can take random words, add punctuation, and arrive at a decent sounding poem. A range of poets came thereafter, including Carol Ann Duffy, the first female poet Laureate in 400 years of Laureates, and Dreadlock Alien, Host of BBC ‘Slam' poetry.

                I was really glad I came to the National Poetry Day Celebration, initially; I was expecting a huge formality, in a prestigious venue, where you could hear a pin drop, even at the most comedic moment. I was surprised, and pleased to see many different poets, reciting different poems, in different styles. Some poets had me in stitches, where others had me engulfed in complex thought. It changed my perspective of what poetry is, not simply the stuff in the Anthology you have to study and annotate, but more the expression of the soul and mind through spoken, rhythmic words.