POETRY ALIVE AND WELL THANKS TO LOCAL POETS

Ryan Adams
Staff Reporter

It is often said that poetry is a dying art, but the local poets reading their works at Phog Lounge in Windsor every month would say otherwise.

Every third Tuesday of each month Windsor writers gather at Phog to share various forms of poetry pieces.  The gathering, known as TOAST, was started well before current host, Benny Alexander, took over two years ago.

A poet in his own right, Alexander, 28, said poetry should be present in all communities because it is a unique way for writers to express themselves.

“It is incredibly important for someone to express what they are feeling,” said Alexander.  “And poetry is a very good expressive tool.  It’s cliché for a reason.”

Alexander said that poetry is not a lost art form and he credits social media and an online community of poets for keeping it alive.

“Button Poetry is a fantastic resource for any poet that enjoys the art,” said Alexander. “They have a YouTube channel, which is a great resource for spreading poetry to the masses.”

New poet Ryan Lengyel said social media helps poets who want to share their work and who want to read other poets’ works through online communities.

“2014 was probably the most visible year for poetry thanks to social media,” said the poet. “Artists like Patrick Roche and Neil Hilbron earned millions of views on YouTube which is unheard of among independent poets and that’s a credit to the introduction of sharing online.”

Lengyel said he believes the poetry scene in Windsor will continue to grow as more people are learn about modern forms of poetry including “slam poetry.”

Slam poetry is described as a type of poetry expressing a person’s personal story or struggle usually in an intensely emotional style.  Slam is one of many modern styles keeping the art form from dying out said Alexander.
Emily Hope Brogan is a 25-year old published writer and editor for Kenning Journal, a literary magazine in Delaware.  She said poetry has to be viewed through a wide lens and new readers must look past poetry of the past to help keep it alive.

“I think poetry is very alive,” said Brogan. “But I think to see that, you have to look at poetry with a wider lens than just remembering poetry as the boring rhymes written by dead British guys they were forced to read in high school.”

Brogan, who has had her poetry published by Red Paint Hill Publishing, said social media and a thriving online presence is a benefit to the art of poetry and she can’t see how social media could ever hurt poetry in the future.

Thanks to events like TOAST, venues like Phog Lounge, The Green Bean Café in Windsor and various online communities, poets have many places where they can read their own work or the work of someone else in an attempt at keeping poetry alive.