Half the room full of students’ hands went up into the air. It was a response to the question, “Who here writes?” as well as the point of the statement, “More hands should be up.”
Matt Ganem the poet came to Keene State College on Monday, April 14, to talk and recite poetry. Ganem is a Boston-based poet, ex-drug addict and an inspiration.
He stood in front of the room and talked about his story of past drug addiction — but I took away more of a story out of his poetry.
Ganem’s poetry was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. The many topics he spoke of ranged from loss and depression to getting clean and progression.
Alison Lamell / Multimedia Director:
Boston-based poet, Matt Ganem, speaks at KSC on Monday, April 14, 2014. He read his own poetry aloud to students in the Mabel Brown Room of the Young Student Center.
He explained how poetry has helped him cope with his past, both now and back then.
Ganem said he writes about anything, and he explained he writes to vent. He said he can write about emotions he doesn’t want to talk about and for him — he said it’s better to express negative emotions down on paper than to take them out on people.
“One thing that piece of paper will never do, is judge you,” Ganem said about writing poetry. This statement really struck me.
Poetry has always been a huge part of my life for many reasons. It is one of my only artistic representations. Everyone has their form of expression — something that gives them peace.
And it is so important to feel comfortable being completely immersed in that form of expression, no matter the topic.
Poetry has been used as an artform of expression for many years, and poets have the freedom to write about anything and everything. Ganem is contemporary proof of that.
Not only does he write about beauty and horror, hope and depression, serenity and insanity, but he writes in a refreshingly atypical way. For example, he asked the room, “Does anyone here have a psycho ex?” Which he followed up reciting a love letter written to him, by him.
Who knew a nagging letter from a former nuisance could be so poetic? It was signed, “Your one true love, Dope.” Ganem is an admirable example of a poet who proves poetry doesn’t have to be conventional or, what many fear, Shakespearean. In fact, I personally didn’t even necessarily enjoy writing poetry until I began writing in completely free verse. Writing my own and acknowledging others’ poetry is significantly alluring to me. But Ganem’s visit to KSC was a poetry reading unlike any I have ever been to.
To hear Ganem reel off his intricate poetry without a single piece of paper in front of him about such peculiar personal and intense matter was a refreshing poetic experience worth having — and according to Ganem, he feels the same way about sharing his poetry.
Danielle Mulligan can be contacted at dmulligan@keene-equinox.com