Have you ever been moved by a poet and his words?
The beauty of poetry lies in the combination of language and emotion that can appeal to many, with its universal meaning touching many or just one.
This week, Allison Academy’s students put on a poetry slam, performing their moving, yet powerful pieces for their peers. The event was a part of Ms. Francois’s English class and the students expressed themselves and how they see the world by writing poetry. Each student picked a topic and wrote about what it meant to them, and thus, the result: we had some great pieces of spoken-word art which reflected on important topics and social issues.
A space for our poets’ unique voices
As Allison Academy takes pride in being a truly open community that loves and appreciates diversity and taking different perspectives on different topics, slam poetry was truly the best medium of expression for our students to share their voices, thoughts, and opinions with their peers.
What sets slam poetry apart from written poetry is the key element of the performance. Everyone knows that beating stage fright is done by confronting the audience, and when you add speaking your innermost thoughts about causes in front of them, it sure looks and sounds intimidating! However, that was not the case in our school, as the students wholeheartedly supported each other while performing and rejoiced with their lyrics and reflections on various topics, some of them being women’s rights, the gender pay gap, inequality, and many other important issues in contemporary society.
The atmosphere of pride and respect could be felt in the room as students clapped and cheered each other on after each poem. The poetry slam was another successful and exciting event, the reciting poets working multiple days practicing their pronunciation, tone, rhythm, and expression. Through these types of events, we train our students’ confidence and help them develop essential interpersonal skills and become competent communicators and speakers.
Expressing yourself lyrically creates a connection
Writing a piece of poetry is usually an intimidating task at first, but once completed, students are always impressed with their results, realizing no task is impossible if you put effort into it.
In order to create a good piece of poetry, you need to choose words that have power and speak accurately on important topics in life (as there is an infinite amount of them), but also to make them aesthetically pleasing, which is truly a one-of-a-kind craft. A great poem is always bound to create an impact on its audience and this is done by speaking about causes with passion and drive.
The beauty of slam poetry is that it is spoken word, i.e. it relies heavily on the performance of the poet, which creates even more space for the artist to move the audience with the emotional impact of the poems and to let their powerful voice out! The art of poetry is based on the history of oral storytelling and it comes from the pure drive for human expression.
And the only way we can bring about change in society is by expressing ourselves: our thoughts, opinions, and attitudes. By doing so, we can connect with others and create a community based on love and acceptance.
