Poetry Experience

     My most interesting experience with poetry also happens to be one of my most recent; as of this writing, it occurred three days ago, at the final Oly orchestra concert. The poem itself was called, if I remember correctly, "Thank You for Being Awesome," written and recited by James Lee, a junior at Oly and a violinist in the Symphony Orchestra. The poem was recited, and, at parts, sang, as a parting gift to the seniors in the orchestra who were departing. As the poet openly admitted, this poem had been recycled from the previous year, with only a few words changed. Still, it was extremely interesting to listen to.

     At first, I thought that James Lee had only began digressing before he started his poem proper; he would not have been the first person to forget what was going on that night. He spoke dramatically, melodramatically, perhaps overdramatically. He undulated back and forth, his voice oscillating between pitches as if trying each out for fun. The stanzas either rhymed rather predictably (years with tears, for example) and used a very simple rhyme scheme at that, or did not rhyme at all. Combined with his delivery, this poem had the audience, including my self, laughing out loud by the first few lines, even the seniors who it paid homage to. Midway through the recitation, the poet began singing the lines, in a warbling, jumpy voice, then abruptly reverting back to his normal tones.

      This probably makes the poem sound terrible, but it really was not. As a matter of fact, it was the antithesis of a weepy good-bye anything, acknowledging the good times that would be missed by spawning a few more. His delivery made the entire work hugely entertaining even to those who were freshmen and had never had a class with those seniors, such as myself. And that leads into the reason this poem is being written about right now. James Lee's poem demonstrated brilliantly that poetry can entertain, captivate, and control the audience incredibly effectively, and that while deeper meanings to be pondered over thoughtfully are nice, a poet can still tangibly connect with his audience, and, rather than letting them overfill with the pretentiousness of poetry as an archaic, literary concept, understand the poem as performance art. In a phrase, the poem stated clearly that there is more to poetry than Robert Frost and his ilk, with no insult meant to Mr. Frost.

     Up until now, I've had two separate teachers, my third grade teacher and and seventh grade English teacher, who enjoyed poetry a great deal. Some of this has rubbed off on me, and so I view poetry as an interesting concept that I still can explore, with as much variation in concept as is found in fiction.