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Open Mic Highlights
• Alex Kist’s ode to friendship / “you are who you surround yourself with” that not only invoked our feature Meg Ford but also many others in the audience!
• Otto Vock revisiting a poem they wrote when they were 16, which had the audience doing a call and response during the refrain of “You Are / Sexy” (it was better in practice than it might sound in print!)
• Sarah King told us about the small artistic island community of Halibut Cove, Alaska and the encouragement she’s received to remain an artist
• Cameron played a recording of himself reading a somber poem, which later included commentary of last week’s show, when Patricia Smith walked in on him reading
• Jarvis’ raucous “Welcome to Fantasy Boyfriend Island”
• The reliably nervous-and-raw Allie Burke, who discussed being a poet while travelling to the doctor, and the connection she has to wearing her mother’s clothes, specifically how it reminds her of how her mother used to be.
• Sue Savoy’s verbing-only poem, inspired by classic Cantab poet Shira Erlichman
• Brynna performed another piece from her in-the-works chapbook about plantations being burned
• We also had the return of the HAIKU SLAM, which featured rare haiku by both Myles Taylor and Kaitie D, but came down to a surprising final battle of former Haiku finalist Sarah King, and slam powerhouse Jarvis Subia. Jarvis won with a series of room-awakening pride month haiku, and claimed the $17 prize and a ticket to this Fall’s Haiku Tournament!
Feature
Our feature was the long-time Cantab open mic and slam veteran Meg Ford, who read from their long-awaited “Choose Your Own Adventure” themed book Wild/Hurt, which is out now on Button Poetry. Keeping that thematic spirit alive, the audience got two options to choose from after each poem (i.e. “If you want an old story, put up one finger, if you are not ready to tell, put up two fingers”), and their decision determined which poem Meg would read next! We got to hear both new and battle-tested poems from Meg throughout the set, touching on family trauma, self-transformation, and of course, their now-infamous Star Wars/Flute-playing/Queer-coming-of-age piece. Despite the intense subject matter, Meg themselves was surprised when we reached the last poem, stating “you guys actually made it to the happy ending of the book”, and then proceeded to end an adventure we would certainly choose again! Please purchase a copy of Meg’s book, and re-watch the feature on our Instagram if you missed it!
Coming Up This Wednesday
This week, we are celebrating Juneteenth with 3X the fun! Catch a triple feature by M’shairi The God, Messi Amaru’Khan, and Marsha, in collaboration with Pull up Poetry (@pulluppoetry)!! You don’t want to miss it! Get to the mic early to also see special spotlights by Yah Yah the Wordstress (@yahyahthewordstress) and our very own Brynna Boyd (@brynna_boyd)!
M’shairi The God ((@mshairithegod) has a mission and that is to authentically share her voice as a testament that there is great power in transparency and vulnerability. Through her lens, she creates space for truth, joy, and personal transformation. An enchanting master of bending language to her will, M’shairi The God is the voice of sensual and raw expression. Her pen has been her longest companion and most reliable instrument as a storyteller and poet. You never know now where she will take you next. M’shairi The God is an experience.
Messi Amaru’Khan (@messagefrommessi) is a Boston born creative artist indigenous to the continent, holistic guide, & a community pillar who’s focus is based around a holistic health approach to the balance of life from the physical body to our physical environment. Aside from being a performing artist myself, He loves to create space for other artist, being one of the hosts & founder of Sol Inspired Open Mic Series & the Pull Up Poetry Open Mic Series. Messi is releasing his first poetry book entitled “Dear Sacred Divine,” on June 30th as well as his debut music EP. Sacral expression is sacred. Facta non Verba: Deeds not Words INDEED I DO, how about you?
Marsha ((@mizzymaz_) is the heart behind Honeycomb—a space where creativity, community and authenticity collide. Now courageously stepping into her own spotlight, she is using her voice to heal, connect and inspire.
See you soon!
– MFG 🚪
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