As Mr. Goerner stated in his interview, “No poets have come to me and discussed the want for their voice to be heard. I get it for poets because it is difficult for them to come up with new work that is unique and fresh every month anyway.” Understandably, students can also be shy when it comes to sharing their original and personal work. As well, school work can tend to get in the way of letting your creativity flow. Maybe it’s just the time of the year, but it sure does feel like the students of Silver Creek have lost their momentum. While interviewing Mr. G, sadness was prominent in his voice when he described the lack of student involvement in this year’s poetry slams. During the interview, he claimed, “The first year I came was 2003, I don’t think there’s been a year where we haven’t done poetry slam up until now.” With a little math, that means there has been a 14-year streak with poetry slams, and this year may bring an end to that streak. However, the lunchtime event can be resurrected with a little bit of love from the students.
The thing that Mr. Goerner loves the most about the students’ poetry is that high schoolers tend to have strong opinions, and combining great writing with a prominent point of view leads to beautiful and passionate pieces of work. There are so many great voices at our school that need to be heard, Mr. Goerner just needs people to step out of their comfort zone to get the event running again. Not only are the slams fun to participate in or even watch, the library staff gives out prizes to the students. The way poetry slam is structured is that there are people who join in the poetry slam and at the end, one student is declared the winner. The winner would win a goofy prize and would start the next poetry slam off first, but there has to be student involvement to get the event up and running.
The main predicament is that students are afraid to present their innermost thoughts or even thoughts that mean nothing to them. Even after years of practice in classes that make you present, poetry can be a very touchy subject for a huge amount of people. Quoting Mr.G, “As you said, poetry can be very personal and scary to share with other people, but it’s just like presenting in class.” Poetry will always be very emotional pieces of art, but with a little bit of courage, sharing your heart to the world can be a beautiful experience for you. For all you know, you may find someone who can relate to your passions. All poets at SIlver Creek to email Mr. G ([email protected]) or talk to him in person in the library to express their interest in reviving the Poetry Slams. So head to the library and talk to our favorite librarians to help bring back the Silver Creek tradition.