by Arda Johnson

Students and staff share their creativity in poetry at the Edward M. Chadbourne Library in the upstairs lobby of Pensacola State College (PSC) on November 3rd.

According to Mike Will, an instructor at PSC, the English, and Communications department presumably set up the Student Open Mic Poetry event. 

For creative students like Richard Owens—a 32-year-old PSC student and president of the meditation club which is held on Tuesdays at two p.m.—poetry can be liberating and have deep connections to the writer. For Owens, a style he said he uses is 

“Free flow poetry. I don’t like structure too much, and my thoughts are really wild and all over the place so I try to write in line with that.” 

There seemed to be no qualifications to enter the event other than making sure the piece is shorter than a couple of minutes, for even I was able to hop on the mic with one of my fictional short stories. ProfessorWill provided the opportunity multiple times throughout the event for anyone who wanted to read their poetry to come up to the mic—this included a couple of other PSC affiliates other than students. 

Owens mentions how he wanted poetry to be a bigger form. He hoped for more people and all walks of life to see how beautiful and wonderful poetry can be. Owens was happy to talk about his works to anyone interested in them and complemented many poets after the event. 

He said before, “I’ve always been a fan of poetry. Growing up, Robert Frost and Edgar Allen Poe were my favorites starting out, and they kind of influenced my view of poetry and got me writing.” 

Additionally, both Owens and Will were happy with the number of attendees that showed up for what was previously canceled due to Covid-19. 

It is unclear whether there will be another Open Mic Student Poetry event in the Spring, but be alert via your student e-mails on Office 365 for updates about the next campus activities that students can get involved in; additionally, pay attention to the handouts placed on tables across campuses.