Strathmore events and businesses may be back in full swing after the impacts of COVID-19, but one young man is using poetry to rebuild something more elusive: human connection.
"I felt there was a decline in the connection people have with each other, especially in the youth community. I think, owing to the COVID event of 2020, a lot of people just seemed disconnected right afterwards. Not many people were trying to make those connections anymore," said Micheal Ajirireloja, the organizer of the Poetry Cafe. "It seemed to me that everyone was just that much more lonely."
And the numbers back him up. According to a 2023 study by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), 46 per cent of Canadians felt lonelier after the pandemic than before. Another survey from GenWell and the University of Victoria in 2021 found that 66 per cent of Gen Z reported frequent loneliness.
In response, the 25-year-old launched the Poetry Cafe a year ago. Held monthly at the Strathmore Municipal Library, the event welcomes people of all ages to share their work, read aloud favourite pieces, or just connect and listen.
"We consistently get a lot of people. It's something that a lot of people enjoy, not just people from Strathmore, but people from other towns as well who are available to come. They tend to show up and showcase their pieces or pieces written by other people, or just talk about what they might be going through."
For Ajirireloja, poetry isn't just literature; it's a powerful tool that can connect emotions.
"We've had people when saying their piece, after being brave enough to actually come up on stage, end up crying and just letting stuff go," he said. "You see them become different people as soon as they say what they want to say."
In one instance, Ajirireloja says that poetry can draw unexpected reactions. He recalls one evening when, without prompting, three participants began writing spontaneous stories about each other.
"It's not like the three people I'm talking about had any prior relationship," he reflected. "They each felt that they deserved [a poem] because they were wonderful people."
The Poetry Cafe continues as an effort to reconnect people after pandemic isolation. The next event takes place Friday (July 11) at 7 p.m. at the library, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.