Seeds of the Poet-Tree hosts poetry slam champion on campus

04/14/2016

Kevin Burke
Content Editor

On April 6, Bridgewater State University’s poetry club, Seeds of the Poet-Tree, held their final event of the school year. The event, Poetry Out Loud, featured the 2016 Women of the World Poetry Slam Champion, Imani Cezonne, and was held in Horace Mann Auditorium.

The event opened with the members of Seeds each performing their own poetry on stage, followed by Cezonne’s performance.

The Seeds of the Poet-Tree’s President, Morgan Amaral, was happy with how the event went and said, “It was everything I could hope it would be. I wasn’t expecting such an amazing turnout.”

Cezonne was also satisfied, saying, “I thought the energy and the audience were really dope, and I think a lot of them weren’t really familiar with my work which I think is sometimes more exciting because you get to see that new reaction.”

Cezonne also met with the Seeds of the Poet-Tree poets a few hours before the show to workshop their material, and had high praise for all of the performers.

“I thought it was really dope to showcase the students here too, and they did their thing,” Cezonne said, “You can tell the Seeds poets work on their craft and are genuinely interested in becoming better poets. They all did really well tonight.”

Seeds Poet Alex Porter agreed, saying, “The crowd was completely invested, and everybody who went on stage did wonderfully. Plus, when Imani went up there, I lost it–she was great.”

Jamaal Bonnette, who performed an original R&B song as well as poetry, commented on the atmosphere, saying, “everyone had a lot of fun, and I really loved the energy and the words spoken from the amazing people who performed here today.”

A number of paintings by Bonnette were also showcased on stage, many of which were inspired by Seeds of the Poet-Tree events.

“Imaginary Pleasures,” by Jamaal Bonnette.

When asked about nerves, Bonnette said that “having to talk about yourself in front of people is always nerve-racking, especially when you express your feelings to someone that’s never heard what you have to say before. But you push through it and you get comfortable up there after a while.”

The next Seeds of the Poet-Tree event is planned for Oct. 11 on National Coming Out day, where the Seeds will be co-hosting an event with the Pride Center.

If you have any questions or are thinking about joining the Seeds of the Poet-Tree, meetings are at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesdays in RCC 119.

Kevin Burke is the Content Editor for The Comment.