The Slam, Free, & Fly Poetry Event

The Slam, Free, & Fly Poetry Event

The 2025 Slam, Free, & Fly Poetry event at Exeter High School was powerful. This event was the 9th annual performance with performers from the Arts In Action Project from Mr. Magliozzi and Mrs. Peterson’s classes. It also showcased former performers during the open mic section at the end of the event. The Creative Guts Podcast hosted, introduced, and interviewed all of the Freshman students. The episode for the Slam, Free, & Fly event will be on their website here very soon. Even if you did not attend the event, you can listen to all of the amazing poems read during that night! 

The first round of performers included: “The Person They Want Me To Write” by Evelyn Morse, “Tethered To Yesterday” by Maeve Roache, “Breaking The Quiet” by Molly Kennedy, “Abstract Love” by Andrea Tuasuun, and “Dear Dorian” by Cowan Dixon. Kennedy, Tuasuun, and Dixon, are also a part of the Poetry Team here at Exeter High School. All students opened strongly and spoke with confidence. Even with a packed audience, it didn’t seem like they were nervous at all. Dixon ended the round with such a powerful message, and the effect of that message was reflected on the faces of the audience. 

The second round of performers included: “My Point A” by Riley Benevides, “Stop Staring At Me” by Casey Haas, “Compliment Flowers” by Eliza Holland, “My Stories” by Alice Martin, and “The Concept of 1” by Addison Linscott. Round of applause for everyone in this group. They all used beautiful imagery, whether it was a metaphor of flowers and vines, or enticing diction portraying the anxiety in a teenage girl. Every performer impressed me in their own way, like the Moth Radio performance on racism. Their performances made me want to read more of their work and thoughts. 

The third round of performers included: “The Color Green” by Sayla Rogers, “Box Of Lies” by Ryan Wilson, “What Are We?” by Xavier Garcia De Paredes & Gabe Bueno, and “Pop Quiz” by Lucy Bailey. This group solidified my thought that this slam event at Exeter High School is my favorite one in the four years I have attended. With so much going on in our society today, these students took their anger and made art. For example, the duo poem by Xavier & Gabe expressed the racism they have experienced. Lucy Bailey, who is also a part of the Poetry Team at EHS, performed an astonishing piece on gun violence and tied it back to our restrictions on phones. The vulnerability of these devastating themes, like the loss of another person, truly brought to life the power of poetry.

To end the night, the open mic section included: “Wake Up” by Oel Leo, “39 seconds” by Stephie Heelan, “Rip” by Lily Bozenski, and “History On Repeat” by Shayla Gerkin & Beatriz Mella. These performers from last year somehow came back even stronger than the last time. 

Thank you to Mr. Magliozzi and Mrs. Peterson for putting together the event and influencing many students to create power with their words. Thank you to the Creative Guts Podcast for hosting the event and providing wonderful commentary and questions for each student. Listen to the 2025 poetry event, and don’t miss it next year!