Back in 2019, I went to an open mic night with my friend Beth at my side for moral support and fought my inner doubter-I shared my work. I continued to attend this monthly soiree until March 2020, when Covid came and shut us all down. It moved to a virtual format for a bit, which then kind of morphed into its own thing. I was sad…I liked poetry night at my local bookstore.
Every time I was in there, I asked the proprietor if the event would return, and he would tell me it would, sometime in the future. I waited.
Then one night my father asks if I follow a guy he knows on Facebook. I say no and inquire, and he tells me this man will be picking up where we left off with poetry night, bringing it back better than ever. This delighted me, and so I marked my calendar for the first meeting in two years.
I didn’t know anyone there, just like I didn’t know anyone when I went back in 2019. However, my circumstances had changed…I had once been so hesitant to share my work, but I have grown past that now. What really struck me that night was a woman named Mary, who was sharing her poetry for the first time. And reader, it was lovely, and absolutely relatable for me. She seemed so nervous, and brought friends for support, just as I had, and though I did not know her, when she was done reading I wanted to run up and hug her, because I was proud of her the way I had once been proud of myself for having the courage to share my work.
There have been two meetings since the first. Mary has been there both times, prepared with poetry, and I can see her bravery expand each time she reads. It’s a pretty awesome transformation to witness, actually.
Anyhoo…Tim, who runs the show, mentioned that he was still looking for features to fill out the year. I don’t know where my anxiety was, perhaps asleep at the wheel, but I proceeded to message him and ask if he would like me to be one of those readers, to which I received a solid “yes.”
So now, in October, I will be the featured reader at my poetry open mic night. The 2019 version of me has no idea how this happened…that I would have the audacity…the sheer BALLS, to just asked for what I wanted? Who the hell is that person??
As always, I stand here with more confidence than I have any right to have. I literally just said this to Kevin: “I was a fat, four-eyed, balding middle schooler; I have no business feeling this fabulous.”
But honestly, I’m not who I was that first night I read. I have always been comfortable on a stage, mind you…this was about my writing, not my performance technique (another thing I have ridiculous confidence in,) The “stage fright” is gone now, though…there is no anxiety about my words. I have shared them, and they have resonated. I have been told by friends and fans that my poetry is something special, and I hope that is true. All I know is that I am more comfortable with it today than I was yesterday, and it can only get better from here.
Happy Monday, folks.