Forgot to tell ya about the poetry for peace!!

Hey all, must have slipped my mind with all these finals but I was able to go the last poetry for peace of the semester and forgot to write about my experience! I was a bit disappointed, to be honest, that more people were not there. I guess I had always envisioned it being pretty full and a bit more participation. I haven't been able to attend one of the events yet because of my schedule but I was able to get this afternoon off. Though it was not a big crowd (actually only 7 of us, five of us being from our class!) I thought it was a nice way to spend your afternoon. Since Theo couldn't be there that afternoon we had a stand in (his name slips my mind) but he read a few of his pieces to us and kind of set the "theme" of the afternoon as home. I really liked his poems, they read like a story and very fluidly. His voice was also a very interesting balance of passion and energy as well as calmness.
After he read a few poems he encouraged us to read anything we had brought with us. I actually didn't really know it was a read aloud kind of thing, so I hadn't planned on bringing anything. However, I happened to have my computer with me and pulled up a poem I had recently written for our class. I read a poem that I thought pertained to the theme of home as it was about a moment that my mom and I shared at home together. I read it aloud, and I thought it was so fun! It was nice to just read something that I had written, just for the sake of reading it! One other person read an original poem and then a couple people read some of his poems and other published poems. I thought it turned out to be quite a nice, intimate setting which was relaxing. Though I had kind of initially wished there were more people there, it turned out to be pretty nice in the end.
One of my friends had been to the poetry for peace events in the past and also came with me on this day. She told me that the last time she went (sometime last year) it was completely packed! Some people even had to stand in the back. Some classes and departments were participating in it as part of a class and things like that so there was a lot of participation. She said it was a very interesting and exciting environment to be a part of. I thought that this was a great idea, to have different departments get involved in the process and participate. I think it would actually serve as a great fundraiser as well! Perhaps different groups on campus and different departments could get involved and read and donate proceeds to a larger organization promoting peace on some level. I think if I were to give any suggestions for how to expand the program and make it more successful in the future I would just say to promote it! Advertise it and inquire individually within departments and programs on campus. I think the event is a wonderful idea and a fun experience no matter who shows up, but there is definitely room for improvement! All in all, poetry for peace was nice and I think I will make an effort to attend more next semester!