Prosper recently hosted an open mic poetry night, organised by Michelle. That evening, Prosper was heaving with poets and lovers of poetry – and I don’t think it was the lure of the cheeky alcohol licence that brought them.
It seems that Ely is full of poets, whether they describe themselves as a poet or not; indeed, many felt too modest to call themselves a poet at all, despite the fact that they’d written poetry and were brave enough to stand up in front of a crowd and read it out loud, some for the first time. Michelle put them straight: if you’ve written a poem, you’re a poet.
To start, we had a few poems from Michelle herself, who joked that people didn’t write poems about a banana. Her most evocative one for me was about her home town, Dagenham. The memories she drew on brought the place to life.
Another poem was about Prosper itself – who needs a marketing department when you have a poet to revel in your virtues? And Prosper has many (in my opinion and that of that poet)! Prosper is a great venue for poetry reading because the owners Phil and Rache encourage wellbeing and positivity anyway, which is perfect for calming any nerves the readers may have.
The poets of Ely had plenty to say on serious subjects, such as the current state of the economy. There were also lighthearted and humorous poem to lift the sombreness after the disaster that was the Grenfell Tower fire was reignited in our memories.
We had insights into the menopause, the fear of dementia and the devastating effects of anxiety and depression, leading to panic attacks in public. This last one was written by a man who had never written a poem in his life, but this had flowed out of him. It was powerful and beautiful and stark. If you see someone having a panic attack, don’t walk on by, but try to help them.
Some readings were perhaps more prosaic than poetic, but if poetry is defined by imagery and emotiveness, then these readings were indeed poetry. There was a beautiful tale of the power of friendship enabling one to realise their ambitions disguised as walking the Fens River Way in installments.
We ended with a boy-meets-girl story cleverly written by combining lyrics from songs written since the poet was born. It was a good narrative poem in its own right, but it was also fun to recognise the songs. There was a wide variety of material covered; publication, which I don’t think is on the cards, would be a nightmare with all the copyright issues!

All in all, the first poetry open mic night I’ve ever attended was great fun. I met some fascinating people in a lovely location, and I found that people in Ely are as much poets as the likes of Keats and Byron. I’d definitely recommend going to one if you see one advertised. The atmosphere was encouraging, supportive and appreciative, and everyone received warm applause.
If you’re wondering if I read anything out, let me put your mind at rest: I did not. I talked to Michelle afterwards, and told her that no one might write poetry about a banana, but I did write one about an orange when I was about fifteen.
Don’t worry if you now feel you missed out: Michelle and Prosper are hoping to repeat this event quarterly, with the next in December. So get your poetic muse out, and start writing! We’ll let you know the details as soon as we have them. You might even hear my orange poem: Michelle issued me with the challenge to read it out in December – eep!