Poet’s
Lounge sets artistic scene for students
By Monica Levette Clark
On-line Forty-Niner
Metaphors
and similes backed by old grooves and improvised
tunes permeated the informal atmosphere,
as amateur poets read from scrapbooks of
verbal creativity at the Poet’s Lounge.
A diverse crowd of students gathered in
a relaxed setting at the Sunset Lounge in
the Student Union to read and listen to
an eclectic mix of poetry Friday night.
Senior Mikell Murphy, aka, “The Obvious
One,” hosted the first Poet’s Lounge of
the fall semester.
“The Poets lounge represents a microcosm
of words that are unheard,” Murphy said.
“It allows for young minds to develop into
infinite voices that echo through eternity.”
Many Cal State Long Beach students took
the opportunity at the open-mic event, to
recite their poems in front of a welcoming
crowd. Some students attended the event
for the first time, while others from previous
semesters returned.
Obi Adisa Asad, a film and English major
at CSULB read a powerful poem about fraudulent
religious leaders, including a pimping preacher
and a drug dealing deacon. He and CSULB
graduate Jeremy Murphy attended the event
to read and to promote a chapbook of poems
they were selling. The two said they belonged
to a spoken word group called Freedom Infinite,
and they were selling the books for only
$5.
Murphy, who changed the mood of the atmosphere
by reading a sexually charged poem, graduated
from CSULB last May with a degree in business
and English, yet he still found time to
come out and support the Poet’s Lounge.
Love, social issues, and personal experience
were other themes presented in poems by
students at the lounge. Amateur poets were
limited to reading only two poems in a three
minute time period because of the list of
students who were eager to have their chance
on the microphone. The host made sure to
reiterate that rule after one poem ran for
10 minutes long.
The J-Evans Project jazz band accompanied
the poets with instrumental renditions of
R&B classics by Earth Wind and Fire
and other popular music groups, along with
their own improvised music.
Creator of the Poet’s Lounge, and CSULB
graduate Aaron Elemelich, made a last minute
appearance and added singing interludes
in-between poetic verses of his poems.
The Poet’s Lounge is just one of the events
that the Program Council offers to students
needing inspiration and a break from their
schoolwork. Students will get another opportunity
to read their poems next month, as the Poet’s
Lounge continues at the Soroptomist House.
|
