“I love reading in front of people and sharing my ideas,” Parker 8th grader Denise Roman said after finishing reading her poem in the Kovler Family Library on Thursday. An Evening of Poetry, sponsored by the English Department and Principal Dan Frank, was a night to remember, according to the teens and adults attending. The room was filled with the joyous laughter of  attendees, the rhythmic snapping of fingers, and the loud and clear miked voices of poets. The night played host to stories of the past, present, and future, haikus and recipe poems rang throughout the library.

“I hope that students will see this night as an opportunity to share their work and voice their truth,” 8th grade English teacher and Slam Poetry advisor David Fuder said before the event transpired. “Anyone who hasn’t been there before will see a chill atmosphere filled with really great poetry by poets of all ages.”

Race and dignity were two of the main themes that threaded through the poems, with poems ranging from what it was like being Latin-American or Asian-American to what it means to keep one’s dignity on a CTA train late at night.

Natalie Braye, a Parker junior said “It was cool to see people from Parker coming together to share something together.” Participants ranged from 8th graders to teachers, and included parents, administrators, and one professional poet, parent Elise Paschen. Chocolate chip scones and room temperature lemonade helped bring the community together.

Readers shared many resonant lines throughout the evening, and among them was junior Isobel Bender’s “You couldn’t fall into the darkness, you could only hang over it.”