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Note: Tonight’s show (11/19) will start a little later than usual (8:15-8:30), due to the secret music show happening upstairs at the Cantab! While we wait to start, we plan on having a little writing workshop based on lines of poetry gathered by our staff!
Open Mic Highlights
• Bailey’s list/will poem based on the line “To my ____, I leave these things” which also included a rare paradiddle reference (shout out to drummers!)
• Mary’s “What do Oedipus and Taylor Swift Have In Common?” that revolved around Choice vs Fate vs Luck
• Ash covering former Cantabber torin a. greathouse and Kamran covering Persian poet Hafiz
• John’s ridiculously wry “I wish people would stop thinking I am flirting because I am not except when I am”
• “My name is built by braking, K-a-i-t-i-e should keep it’s I’s so it can always see itself” – Kaitie D
• Natalie’s poem analyzing and bemoaning how much time they’ve spend thinking and writing about their breakup, including the actual measured time and statistics
• Amy’s epic and cathartic “I wrote a short poem” that had a lot of empty spaces that were slowly and then urgently filled up as the poem went on, and has us all looking forward to next week’s “I wrote a long poem” (which should be the length of a haiku)
Feature
On short notice we had a surprise fill-in feature from Cantab slam team / slam coach veteran ZEKE RUSSELL! Although Zeke has deep pockets of poems, he performed mostly new work from his upcoming manuscript, and touched upon themes that have run through his work: recovery, sobriety, elegies for the departed, self portraits, and a love of baseball and wrestling. We heard odes to late Cantab poets Jeff Taylor and Omoizele “Oz” Okoawo, as well Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield, plus a very “Masshole” flavored take on the people in Lowell who helped Zeke get clean. He ended up on a lighter note, reading poems about his chosen wedding song and the joys of filling-in to distribute lunch to those in need. Thanks for the last minute feature Zeke!
Coming Up This Wednesday
As mentioned above, tonight’s show will start a little later than usual, but we will have local legend Cole Rodriguez featuring for us!
Cole Rodriguez is an internationally recognized spoken word artist, originating from Boston, MA. As a six-year participant in the National Poetry Slam, Cole has competed against the top-ranked poets in the United States. As a mother, teacher, artist and friend, Cole has used her poetic work to create community, inspire activism and speak truth to power.
Passionate about youth development, Cole works with universities, high schools and in therapeutic settings to facilitate spaces wherein poetry can be de-constructed, celebrated and created. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, she has worked with institutions including Harvard University, Berklee College of Music, Boston College, Salem State University, Brandeis University and Bermuda College, as well as a host of alternative and public schools, to incorporate activism and poetic voice into the classroom.
As a performance poet, she has captured audience’s attention as an acclaimed slam winner at Cambridge’s Lizard Lounge, Roxbury’s House Slam and Manhattan’s Nuyorican Café. This lover of rhyme continues to perform throughout the US and abroad. Cole is an avid music appreciator, a Celtics fan, and a beast in the kitchen.
See you soon!
– MFG 🚪
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