Banded together by their love of poetry and inspired by the success of recent open mic events, Durand Capers and Shon Houston created Sinclair’s new poetry club MELO (Mentation Esoteric Lyrical Organization)—and it all started over a small game of cards.
“Class, cards, and poetry…that’s what we do,” said MELO President Durand Capers. “One day we were playing cards in Building 8 and I just said that we should start a poetry club. There are no poetry clubs at Sinclair and there is definitely a need for one because there are a lot of students that like poetry, but are either to shy or don’t think anyone is into it.”
“There is a very deep meaning behind the name. The definition of MELO is the process of thinking, especially thinking carefully, confining to and understandable by an enlightened inner circle expressing deep emotions,” Capers said. “I want to start this club to bring out more culture and to show a different aspect of Sinclair.”
MELO plans to help members with their writing by holding writers workshops.
“With this club I want to get a better understanding of this art form and a better understanding of the people that can express themselves in this art form. I want people to come together under this art, this oratory concept,” said MELO Vice-President Shon Houston.
In addition MELO plans to help members with the performance of their poetry by having open mics and slams, according to Capers.
“A slam is a contextual form of open mic that is all about competition and seeing who the better performer is. Competition brings the best and the worst out of people. We want to see what it brings out of our members,” Houston said.
Members of MELO have diverse reasons for getting into poetry.
“I started writing poetry at 7 when I wrote a poem/paper about my granddad,” Houston said. “That was when I realized what words could do. It was the way people took to the poem, it had my teacher crying and it moved my classmates. Poetry is a movement.”
For any students interested in joining MELO, call Durand Capers at 286-3434 or Shon Houston at 267-4279.