#Poem26

Each month at Tough Guy Book Club we issue a challenge to our members, it can push them outside their comfort zone, try something new and add a page to their story. This month’s challenge was #Poem26.

The rule book stated that no limericks could stay,

No haikus were allowed to find their way,

Nor any poems you’ve written on your own.

So this one’s out, its chances fully blown,

As are all poems under one hundred words in length.

And so our Goons, finding greater strength,

Have cast the net both far and wide,

Their readings speak of life and how we cope,

Of love and grief, of family and hope,

Indigenous poems about a brighter future,

And ones about nature, standing through it all.

Oh, and Bukowski and his final beer call.

As the above poem attempts to explain, the challenge was to research and find a poem you like and to read it out aloud to people. Half the challenge was the research and finding a poem that you connected with, the other half was reading it in front of others. Whether the poem was read out in front of loved ones, colleagues, sports team members, recorded for fellow Goons via a Facebook post, or read at their Chapter’s Bourdain dinner - was up to each Goon.

But hang on, this is a club for tough guys right? What do tough guys and reading poetry have in common? Well, TGBC is all about the power of stories. The power of stories to help embrace new perspectives. The power of stories to drive positive change for our Goons and their communities. And poetry, while it appears in many different forms and styles, is basically writing that aims to stir a reader’s imagination or emotions. While poetry can tell an evocative story and bring up strong emotions, it can just be really fun to read. These are all things that a good book can do, but poetry can do it in a lot less words and with a whole lot of style. We think poetry is pretty fucking cool, and tough too.

So as the poem above explains, our Goons showed up in true form - researching poems from sentimental favourites like Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken, Invictus, and Bukowski’s work. To more obscure poets and pieces of work - across cultures, nations and languages. During their readings, many Goons shared the reasons behind their choices, and how their chosen poem connected to their own story. And many fessed up to some awkwardness and even fear in completing the reading in public or on camera - but they were tough and got it done anyway.

“It is not death that allows us to understand each other, but poetry”

This statement, from a TGBC loved author, Le Guin sums it up pretty well. And we reckon that across our Facebook group, around many Bourdain dinner tables, and at the many other places our Goons shared their poems, a greater sense of understanding and shared connection was built.

By Jamal Brown