I am sure a lot of writers and spoken word artists felt the same way throughout the Spoken Word Week – a first for the bill of events in this year’s Maitisong Festival. Sitting in that room with all minds, tickled and excited, sharing and asking questions - not only did I feel like I was back in high school, but I was back in my old high school, with the waves of nostalgia overwhelming me – from the lunch hours by the field with other poets to walking down the walkway, confidently this time, not like 16 years ago when I feared the alley.
Dasha Kelly, Danny Solis and Matt Mason carry different auras about them but they all made us feel at home. We fell in love with this spoken word art, and the knowledge, the passion, the drive and the will to spread the culture just exuberated from them. Three very distinct styles of poetry, very different backgrounds – age, race, upbringing, state – you name it. But you would think that they have been friends for a long time. Granted they have known each other, and work within the same movement but there something so admirable about the way the treated each other. Camaraderie. Collectiveness. Family. Love.
