Poetry Club’s open mic reading unlocks the power of self expression

CVHS Poetry Club hosted its first open mic poetry reading at the Wellness Center on Oct. 19. The event featured several poets, who all shared their own personal pieces.

Senior Oli Baker presented their poem, “Facebook Marketplace,” about “What ifs?” 

Baker further explained their thought process for the piece, saying, “What if I wasn’t friends with the people that I was when I was 12, when I was 9? And it’s really about what if we somehow met again and we didn’t even know who each other were. That’s just something that I like to think about a lot.”

“I love poetry, mainly for self expression. I think it’s a great way to express yourself and your love of words, and some of the feelings that you don’t necessarily are able to say verbally and can be expressed through words of art and poetry,” said club vice president sophomore Kaila Crane. 

Crane shared her poem, “Reflection,” which dealt with “what it was like growing up as a little girl and being told things about how I looked or my body for example and how it made me feel. And the causes of that like ‘Oh, I don’t want to look in the mirror anymore,’ and ‘I feel this way about myself.’ And it’s really just about not letting those words get to you, or as said in the poem, I’m kinda in the mindset of my younger self and it’s almost like she believed those words. So it’s all about moving on from that point and not letting the words of other people hurt you.”

The open mic also featured senior Natalia Oviedo-Bricio, as well as freshmen Lucia Alfonzo and Tulasi Venkatesh, who presented their poetry for the first time. 

According to club founder senior Maggie Rodas, Poetry Club allows people to embrace their inner poets and be proud of who they are, and this event shows it. 

“I feel very honored to be president of Poetry Club and to make this club and for people who actually want to participate, it really inspires me a lot and it really inspires them to be a part of this community. It’s just really beautiful to see them all and I just enjoy it,” she explained.

Rodas further stated that she started the club for others as well as her own passion for poetry, saying her love of the written word has “grown and increased in me throughout the years and here we are, here I am with my poetry. It’s like a dream come true and I really appreciate their effort combined with mine to create poetry.”