Review: Amid verse-tossing, the cutest date night of all time

Poetry Open Mic Night
Trident Booksellers & Cafe
338 Newbury St, Boston
Sept. 3, 2023

"And next up, Tony!" called the host of Trident Booksellers's Poetry Open Mic Night.

Instead of one person standing and walking toward the mic to read a poem as had happened all evening, two people got up from a table at the back of the café. One of them ducked to the side, and started filming on her phone as Tony approached the mic.

“I feel my heart pounding a little," Tony, leaning into the mic with a nervous chuckle, quipped, "so if my voice cracks … that's part of the poem." This was met with knowing laughs and encouraging cheers and whoops from the crowd, who had spent the evening rallying all of those brave enough to share their poetry, but especially first-time readers.

With a half-smile at the woman filming, Tony revealed that he was going to read a poem he had written about his wife, Mickaylen, and that she hadn't heard it yet.

“And she hates when I read things in front of a crowd before her," he teased. The woman filming pulled a face of mock indignation that couldn't quite hide the delight she showed while watching him read.

Tony's short poem described wandering through a forest and realizing that his wife was his home. Two girls in the table next to me physically placed their hands on their hearts and looked at each other with drawn, over-exaggerated faces that said that their hearts were melting.

A few readers later in the lineup, Mickalyen's name was also called. (“She didn't know I signed her up!" Tony shouted from the back as Mickalyen laughed and approached the mic.) Mickaylen took the stage and read a poem about when she first met Tony - who filmed from the sidelines, grinning from ear to ear. She followed it up with another poem titled "Satellite," which she had written about a summer she and Tony had spent together in Lebanon, gazing out over the satellites on roofs.

“You two are now my favorite power couple!" the host gushed as Mickalyen walked back to her seat, and I wondered if I had just witnessed the cutest date night of all time.

Besides the obvious date night potential, Trident's Poetry Open Mic Night, which is free to attend and held every other Sunday night at 7, cultivates the kind of intimate, nurturing, and creative spaces generally only found in college writing classrooms. On the night I went, around 50 people packed into the upstairs café space on Newbury Street. Rather than serious, stuffy, or academic, the atmosphere was casual and approachable. Servers weaved through the tables delivering food, and people came and went as they pleased. Conversations from book buyers in the adjacent hallway added a cozy coffee-shop ambiance.

The event takes place in two rounds, with a short break in between which doubles as a second chance to sign up as a reader in case the first round has melted the ice.

About 13 readers took the stage in the first round, reading their own original poetry, sharing poems by favorite writers, theatrically performing Elizabethan sonnets, and offering insights into the structure of Sapphic poems. Some readings were memorized; most were read off phones or from the pages of well-worn notebooks.

Confidence varied, from charismatic and witty deliveries to shy, trembling recitations. Readers introduced their poems as being works in progress, pieces that they had written in high school or college classes, drafts they had written recently, and, in one case, a work in progress begun only 45 minutes earlier.

The evening started with Shannon explaining that the weather has been too nice for her to get much writing done, and so she read "Black Oaks," by Mary Oliver:

… And to tell the truth I don't want to let go of the wrists of idleness
I don't want to sell my life for money,
I don't even want to come in out of the rain.

(“A procrastinating icon!" Shannon noted.)

Ellie read several vulnerable poems about her mental health. Chris's poetry dived into the nuances of being cross-cultural. Eli read out song lyrics.

Several poets reminded us that poetry can be funny. Kelsey read a poem about navigating life, which included a tongue-in-cheek admittance of her codependent relationship with Google Maps.

Kapil read "an homage to the Massachusetts Transit Authority," and Brad started by introducing his two poems about "Marriage," and the other about "Regret" before catching himself and insisting that the pairing was unintentional to the chuckles of the crowd.

Adam closed out the night on a quieter note with Keats's "To Sleep":

Upon my pillow, breeding many woes, -
Save me from curious Conscience, that still lords
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole;
Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed Casket of my Soul…

Despite how many readers were on the list, the poems breezed by. Most readers took far fewer than their four or so allotted minutes.

While it's clear that the event has a solid crew of regulars, the two-round format meant that most of the readers became familiar faces even by the end of the night - their unique sensibilities, personalities, and styles shining through and fostering familiarity with the audience and building instant ease between attendees.

The crowd cheered vulnerabilities, successes, and bravery, and left me with the impression that Trident Booksellers provides nourishment not only through their books and food, but also through their creation of community.

Review from the Independent Review Crew.