The Creative Writing Department hosted a spoken word event on Wednesday, October 1st. The black box was lit with blues and purples as performers and audience members filled the room.
As a poet myself, I often feel fearful for the future of poetry. It seems that people prefer to watch short form videos at 2x speed with colorful, crowded graphics jumping out at them, rather than spend time listening to the pauses and exclamations of a lone poet on stage.
A part of me romanticizes the idea of an older time. A time where people gathered around campfires, where they retreated to the theater or rushed to the disco. Is there any beauty in our endless isolated doomscrolling? Is there any beauty in gathering around the TV and looking back and forth between the screen and your iPhone?
Is there any soul in this generation?
Caityln Lungstrum, a Junior Creative Writer, began the night with a poem so personal that it has since lived within the hearts of every audience member. She spoke about wanting to fulfill the dreams her younger self desired. She explained, “I feel like I’m in this time of trying to figure out who I am, and I’m asking myself, what is my soul saying?”
Poetry can lead one to questions that many of us actively avoid. Rather than remain in the intimidation of existential questioning, Lungstrum wrote about whom the younger version of herself “would’ve expected to see on stage tonight.”
Lungstrum used her past to render an understanding of her present self. The past is meant to teach us. Just as poets stream their nostalgia into their creations, the great ways that the older generations used art to enrich their lives should inspire us.
As the night went on, the performances strung along, each building off the other in a crescendo of creativity. We heard poetry from middle schoolers, finding their voices and exclaiming their bright burning passion. We heard words about relationships, the power of silence, and the beauty of internal growth.
Our generation is just as beautiful as the last. As technology develops, as the world keeps changing, so does our art.
We are allowed to be different. We are allowed to be artful, soulful, passionate, even if it doesn’t look like it always has. Art thrives off change! Art thrives off the students at OCSA, who never fail to prove that no art form is dying, as long as we keep living.
