A short distance from where strippers dance for tips and bums ask for change Sexy Poets gather in the backroom of Beezy’s Café in Ypsilanti to read their work to each other. Coffee is being brewed in the background, giving a grittier sound to the rhythm of the poems being performed.
“When I read, I had the audience sing ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ in a round because I was nervous,” said Elizabeth Mikesch whose first poetry reading as a Sexy Poet was May of this year. “I was also hoping to engage them.”
The Sexy Poets Society meets at 5:30 p.m. on the last Monday of every month at Beezy’s ever since Theresa Rickloff started the group in November 2009. Rickloff, an Eastern Michigan University alumnus and line cook at Beezy’s, wanted to try to facilitate a poetry community in Ypsilanti in some way.
“I knew and had heard of quite a few poets in the area and was quite interested in discovering them and hearing their work,” said Rickloff. “I didn’t want EMU to have its stamp on my creation because I really wanted it to be an Ypsilanti project, and the world of poetry scarcely rears its head separated from the university.”
Vanderpool has been part of the Sexy Poets Society since the first meeting. He has known Rickloff before Sexy Poets started.
“Poetry for me is about letting go,” said Vanderpool. “I throw out there this emotion or this experience so I can express it, be done with it and move on.”
Mikesch said, “Poetry for me is a sister to music. I have written songs for seven years now. Writing poems serves as an unsung way to spew out my love of words. It is like singing to readers.”
The Sexy Poets Society strives not to be an Open Mic. Rickloff’s focus for the readings is giving an opportunity for poets to establish their individual poetic voice, often to those who have never shown before. She decided to host the first reading as a singular event, and if it generated enough interest, continue it as a series.
“We had over 30 people show up to the first reading, and people asking me immediately afterward if they could read their stuff at the next reading,” said Rickloff. “So I realized, ‘Duh, this needs to happen.’ And I haven’t had to work very hard to find poets since.”
Said Mikesch, “Having an audience makes for a good way to feel connected to other poets and writers who, I think, like to let words wash over them.”
“It’s certainly a different kind of rush when I’m performing,” said Vanderpool. “When I read my own poems, the feeling I get is like being exposed. Even if you’re showing something that seems completely meaningless to you, people are still taking something from that.”
Rickloff decided to call the series the Sexy Poets Society to make people feel sexy about poetry as opposed to scared and bored, which she thinks is overwhelmingly the case.
“The dream is that someday we’ll become big enough so that we can have a huge-ass parade,” said Rickloff in jest. “My biggest dream is that we’ll really put Ypsilanti on the map as a place where poetry is actually thriving and people can take a real interest in it.”
Open Mics are occasionally held in Ypsilanti and poetry events such as the Bathhouse Reading Series are held by the university. But the Sexy Poets Society is entirely disconnected from EMU, although EMU professors have been known to show up.
Vanderpool said, “It’s the only group like this I’ve heard of in Ypsilanti. It’s a step away from being on the street corner.”
“There are so many artists and so many people providing spaces for creativity to grow,” said Rickloff. “I’ve grown so much just from hanging out at places like Beezy’s, The Ugly Mug, The Corner Brewery, The Tap Room to name a few [in Ypsilanti]. And more businesses are opening up.”
Rickloff began writing poetry informally but became more interested when she started studying literature in college. For those who don’t know what they love she said, “Get to know a lot of people and then don’t stress out about following your passions.”
As the founder of a successfully running group, Rickloff gives this advice for those who want to follow suit, “Don’t start too big, make sure you have a great group of people to support you and give energy to it. Delegate out jobs to people who are strong in areas you are weak.”
“The people involved in this, from what I have gathered is a lot more avant-garde and just sillier,” said Vanderpool. “No matter what you write, you could probably fit in. So anybody who writes would be in the position to send Theresa something.”
