Dim purple lights illuminated the stage as students read poems aloud in the MTHS band room on June 2nd.

Though the crowd was small the voices were not, and over 20 poems were read by audience members.

Students read aloud poems they brought themselves or ones from a pile of packets that lay on the table beside snacks and beverages.

Many students had a lot of fun reading their poems, including senior Serafina Urrutia who giggled throughout reciting the poem she brought, “Phenomenal Woman” written by Maya Angelou.

Along with fun and light poems, the night held intense and genuine poems, such as the poem junior Alex Croce brought, “The Color of Racism” written by Hebert Logerie.

Croce read the poem with vigor and emotion, causing goosebumps to ripple throughout the audience. Putting meaning into into every word, Croce threw out hand motions to add to the poem.

Later on in the night, Croce also read aloud a poem he said he previously had to dissect in his English class, “Those Winter Sundays” written by Robert Hayden.

“I didn’t like it then, and I never thought I’d read it aloud,” Croce shared, garnering laughs from the audience.

However, students were not the only ones to read. MTHS Librarian Kasey Meier joined the crowd and read one of her favorite poems, “Barter” by Sarah Teasdale.

Meier said the poem held a lot of significance to her and it was one that she enjoyed reading aloud as she read it on the Hawk Broadcasting Network during National Poetry Month in February.

Students also shared original poems. Senior Jaira Arcilla read aloud her own poem, “Unfinished.”

The last poem to be read was “Only the Good Die Young” written by Jackie Hill and shared by senior Beza Ayele.

Ayele read the poem with vigor, holding the microphone tightly in one hand and her poem in the other. She said this poem was one of her favorites.

“When I first listened to it…I knew it was good because you know it’s a good poem when you don’t really relate to it but you’re still like, ‘Wow,’” Ayele said.

Ayele organized the event because she enjoys poetry and wanted to have it at MTHS in some way before she graduated.

Ayele said her initial plan was to have the Black Student Union (BSU) incorporated in the event, but due to complications that was not possible.