OC HIGH / Student News and Views : The Poet Within : Readings are drawing young poets and those interested in their works to area coffee houses where the poetry meets with acceptance rather than judgment

Is there a poet in you? A number of teens are looking inward and finding one. Rather than seeing poetry as a subject confined to the classroom, they are using it to release their anxieties and discover who they are.

Writing their own poetry and then sharing it has become an important means of dealing with the stresses and tensions associated with growing up.

At Jam’s Coffee House in Huntington Beach, teens read their works on Thursday evenings. Here, the Angst, like the atmosphere, is thick enough to cut with a knife. The poetry, spoken from a stage at the front of the tiny cafe, deals with diverse themes, all with the common thread of therapeutic self-expression.

The high school students, sitting on couches that face the stage, listen as the poetry is shared.

“People just want a place where they can read their poetry and be accepted,” says Rachelle Schad, a Marina High School sophomore.

At Jam’s, the poems are delivered with feeling and intensity, and are well received.

“To be that young and to be against things that hard compels them to write,” says veteran coffeehouse poet Catherine Spear of Fullerton. “Poetry puts into words what you can’t express out loud,” says Spear, who began writing poetry when she was a teen-ager.

Geoffrey Dicker, a senior at Westminster High School agrees: “Through poetry, I can express how I feel about the world and the people in it.”

Is poetry on the rise among high school students? Most who attend readings say that there are more teens at readings than before.

Amanda Churchouse, a sophomore at Huntington Beach High School, said: “I’ve noticed more poets my age (at readings). Now, it’s the thing to do.”

Meg Tidgewell, a senior at Mater Dei High School, agrees: “People want to be part of the crowd, and right now the crowd is writing poetry.”

How do students find and participate in these readings? Newspaper listings and word of mouth attract some. Others just stumble into the scene. Initially, they might come just to listen. The readings, however, soon become more than entertainment. The atmosphere inspires them to write.

“The feelings (the poets) give me (through their poetry), I want to give back to them,” Churchouse said. “It’s like going into an art gallery and thinking, ‘Wow! I could do that.’ ”

These poets generally eschew the metered style in favor of free-form works.

“Free verse is in vogue,” says Spear. “It is easier to write.”

Poetry isn’t a pursuit limited to coffeehouses.

Some high school students are seeing their works published in literary magazines. A variety of publications accept submissions from teens, both nationally and locally. Examples are The Never Ending Page (Huntington Beach), Young Voices Magazine (Olympia, Wash.) and Night Roses (Prospect Heights, Ill.).

And there are other venues. Spear has been involved in sidewalk readings, where a group of poets read their works on street corners. Churchouse and her friends read poetry to each other at a local park.

What is the general response to high school poetry?

The audiences “are really accepting of it,” says Schad. “They really like it because it is people’s feelings.’

Churchouse agrees: “People appreciate poetry because it is a form of expression. Even if they don’t think it is good, they appreciate that the poets put their feelings into the poems.” Spear affirms that the age of a poet doesn’t matter. “A poet is born,” she says. “Age is irrelevant.”

Readings also offer a visual impact. The audience likes “being able to see the writer,” says Tidgewell. “It helps them to associate a bit more.”

As a night of poetry comes to an end at Jam’s, veterans fold their computer-printed sheets, the amateurs close their notebooks, and the first-time readers heave sighs of relief. All filter out slowly.

It’s back to school the next morning. But maybe this day, while studying Shakespeare or Chaucer in English class, a new thought will occur to a listener from the previous night:

“Maybe I could write a poem.”