Last week I attended a poetry reading in Canoga Park. Usually I avoid voluntarily going to Canoga Park because it is located in Canoga Park.¹ But on this evening I made an exception. It was a Tuesday night. 53 degrees Fahrenheit.

I walked into the Cobalt Café and took my seat.⁴ The Cobalt is a bomb shelter of a space, complete with antique odors and timid lighting. A series of love seats and benches line the perimeter opposite the stage, accenting the chalky black walls. All of the attention would be focused on the reader.

I hadn’t been to a reading since my time in Chicago,⁵ frequenting readings everywhere from Uptown’s Green Mill—the birthplace of slam poetry—to a Wicker Park dive named Chinaski’s.⁶ So I may be rusty, but I have high expectations. The Cobalt did not disappoint.

There were readers of all backgrounds. A white-haired man in suspenders, reading an ode to Nixon-era hippies. Two brothers from Galveston, Texas, rapping in spoken word about W.E.B. DuBois. A single mother from Boyle Heights, waxing eloquently about the devotion of her immigrant mother. And me, with my old standby “match.com profile: successful”.⁷  

It was a wonderfully engaging and inspiring Tuesday night. Here’s what I’m getting at: You should go to a poetry reading.⁸ Integrate it into your New Years Resolution.⁹  Promising to take more risks? Go read that awful poem you wrote to your first love in 7^th grade (come on, you totally kept it). Planning to exercise more? Put on your track suit and run to the Cobalt (informal attire is cool). Eating better? Bring an apple with you (what?). I really don’t care how you do it. But if you love reading or writing, if you are curious about your local community of budding writers, find an event near you. You might be surprised how much you enjoy it.

Canoga Park notwithstanding.

¹I don’t care for Canoga Park.²

²Or didn’t. It’s kind of growing on me.³

³For example, Cavaretta’s Italian Deli? It’s totally awesome.

⁴I’m on crutches, so it was more of a hobble. I hobbled into the Cobalt Café and stumbled into my seat. For the record. 

⁵Not 53 degrees Fahrenheit in January.

⁶Points for anyone who can point out the irony herein.

⁷Not suitable for all audiences.

⁸Subtlety is not my strong point.

⁹My resolution is to use fewer footnotes.

Matt Devine, BookEnds Program Manager