BUDDY WAKEFIELD

On 02.28 I attended my first poetry reading at 1104 S. Wabash. I chose to attend this reading particular reading because I waited until the last minuet to fit a poetry reading into my schedule. Perhaps I won’t do this for the next reading. It was convenient and took place after my class.

The reading opened with four Columbia student performers; Nick Narbutas, Nate Olison, Daniel Shapiro, and Abby Sheaffer. These students belonging to "Verbatim" and "Silver tongue" organizations read through their poems in a two minuet literary death match. This helped engage the audience into the reading while creating a fun atmosphere.

Buddy Wakefield is a three-time spoken word champion. His sarcastic sense of humor was endearing. I felt as though I was at a comedy club. He connected with the audience by expanding on his stories behind his poems. His feelings of discontent, confusion, happiness, pain, and rejection made clear pertinent ideas. The way he expressed himself was captivating. One of my favorite poems he read was about the law of nature. He expressed the tragic life and the non-tragic life. He then proceeded to explain what was in the middle, and that is the quest for love, and happiness. With lines such as “hearts don’t break, they bruise and get better” and “my insecurities are in all the right places” showed a touch of softness and vulnerability. I was completely blow away by his performance. Buddy did an amazing job to keep the focus on him, with his flowing rap-like rhythm. It was as if he was connecting chords of music. He read his last poem in which he wanted to perform first. At this time it is titled Love Poem. My favorite line was “so I can fiddle like fate and make music.” This poem was about bouncing back, and recovering after so many years of hating himself. He was able to find love at age 36. He spoke on how he found contentment after all these years. I feel as if Buddy spoke on what everyone feels at some point in their life. The passion wanting to love, and give love, finding themselves are all feelings on which I connected with. He let me feel like it is okay to be hurt, and to be confused about life, and to show that I can vulnerable. This resonated with me, because at times I do close myself down, and construct walls around me. This is why his lines stating>”stop inviting walls into wide open spaces” stuck with me. I feel he was trying to convey a deeper meaning of living life to the fullest while being open to new experiences. Buddy performed his audio piece. This captured his two friends in Central Park, New York laughing together. He said that he was glad to of had that audio at such a time.
Overall there is nothing I would change about the reading. Buddy spoke about everything that I feel. He made me feel comfortable, and I felt as though he connected with his audience. His comicality and honesty was much appreciated. He let his real self shine through, and expressed himself as a blank canvass. He was not pretending, but letting his audience know that things will work out if you have faith. I would attend another reading by Buddy. I hope the next reading I go to has to do with passion, faith, and love. These things I connect with the most.