DC Poetry Community - McKenzie

Some critics would lead you to believe that poetry now longer is a credible art form or that it has fallen through the cracks into a realm of obscurity and disenchantment with the populace. In a country where a national poetry month is celebrated, a poet laureate is elected and is home to some of the greatest contemporary poets it is hard to believe that some people believe that poetry no longer “matters” or no longer is an art form. Poetry exists in so many different capacities that it seems almost absurd to question poetry as credible or art. The sad fact of the matter for me however, is that for a majority of my life I have held the jaded, cynical view of some of poetry’s critics. My distaste for poetry most assuredly stems directly from my high school experiences, where poetry was force feed to unwilling students by teachers and where lines of Shakespeare for seared into our memories.

Coming to Washington DC, has changed m view on poetry and reignited a previously smoldering passion. The poetry community of DC is vibrant and seems to encompass numerous different aspects of DC residents lives. Poetry in this city emerges in so many forms from the anthology of poetry written by the homeless (entitled street sense), to poetry slams at such places as Bus Boys and Poets, to poetry readings at such venues as the Folger Shakespeare Theater. Coming from an environment in which people cringed at the thought of reading poetry it is invigorating to see poetry as such an integral part of the DC community.

My own personal experience with the DC poetry community comes directly from a poetry reading at the Folger Theater. I went to see an acclaimed Russian Poet Vera Pavlova perform her newest works. Upon arrival at the theater I fully expected to be in the company of a wholly academic community. That was exactly the opposite; in the lobby of the theater was an eclectic mix of people seemingly from all walks of life and all age groups.. The vibrancy of the DC poetry community has continued to astound me, whether it is the College students who buy copies of Street Sense on the Corner, or my friends who were excited to attend a poetry reading with me, or the fliers that are plastered on my schools walls proclaiming the newest poet to be visiting the city.

Maybe, since DC is a much larger city than I am used to living in, the poetic culture is much larger or maybe DC is a more “cultured city” and more people wish to perform poetry in DC. But I think the vibrancy of DC poetry is not determined by the poets or the poetry itself but rather by the individuals who live in DC. The residents of this city seem to have a genuine desire to engage in the poetry community, almost an eagerness to attend poetry readings or read poetry anthologies. This could all be a masquerade for people to seem culture but I don’t think so. When I was sitting in the Folger Theater listening to Vera Pavlova, I was immersed in a community that was excited to be in the presence of poetry. At the end of the reading instead of filling out of the theater to go home to proclaim how “cultured” they were to their friends, they stayed not because they had to but because they wanted to meet, engage and interact with the poet. Not out of a desire to be considered “artsy” or “cultured” but rather out of a genuine desire to learn about and engage in the large and vibrant poetry community of Washington DC.