In spite of the bone-chilling temperatures and mountains of snow, a band of brave souls  came out Friday, Jan. 28^th to “The Somerville News @Toast Poetry Series,” held at the “Toast” lounge in Union Square,  Somerville, to hear poets Ryk McIntyre and Regie Gibson strut their lyrical stuff.  

At the bar before the reading, Cheryl Burns of Somerville told the “News” that her father was a police officer in Somerville, and as part of his job he frequented the police holding cells which “Toast” once was before it was converted. She was amused to see that the sounds of poetry thrived here instead of the shouts of disgruntled inmates. Janet Cormier, a regular at  “Toast,” and a future reader at “Toast” series, was on the scene and made it known how she feels about this underground poetry venue: “I love it very much. It got me thinking about poetry and infused me with poetic energy.”

The first to read during this evening was Ryk McIntyre. McIntyre is a veteran of the Boston poetry scene, and is currently the co-host at the “Cantab Lounge Poetry Slam” in Cambridge. He is the winner of a “Cambridge Poetry Award,”, a slam champion, and the author of a couple of collections, the most recent being: “When Wishing On A Star Is Not Enough.”

  McIntyre’s poetry is primarily narrative with bursts of dramatic energy. When asked to characterize his work he replied with his usual generous dose of levity: “My work is poetry with adjectives and verbs. It is performance poetry that’s heavy on comedy and character.”

  McIntyre’s range is eclectic. One of his poems dealt with of all things, “Animal Crackers.” The conceit of this piece is that our first experience with animals is with these tasty tidbits. And what do we do? We dunk these endangered species in milk and bite their little heads off!

McIntyre  also read a poem that dealt with his obsession with movie monsters. In one piece the poet has Frankenstein explaining away his bad hairstyle. McIntyre’s work provoked fits of laughter from the audience as they hopefully forgot the  grinding winter week they stoically endured.

  Regie Gibson , the next reader, is an African-American poet with a mercurial reading style.  He is an accomplished poet, with a couple of collections to his credit; a national poetry slam champ, the president of “The Cambridge Poetry Awards,” and a recognized leader in the Boston poetry community. His poetry deals with growing up Black on the streets of Chicago, and it is laced with provocative street lingo and dramatic flourishes of musical language. One of the poems he presented was a portrait of a project rat, whose death turned out to be an omen of his friend’s ill-fated future. The other works he read dealt with his ancestral roots; delivered in a breathtaking, rapid-fire cadence. Gibson said that he is also   influenced greatly by music, particularly the work of the late Jimi Hendrix. Gibson opined that Hendrix was the most “American” of musicians in the history of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Hendrix combined so many musical idioms, that the body of his work is like a big “melting pot;” the concept historians tout as the foundation of our country.

Gibson wowed the audience with his visceral reading. The crowd seemed to be captives of a hushed silence; as Gibson spilled his heart and soul out to an unsuspecting microphone

  After the two featured readers, two regulars, poets Natasha Schneider and Janet Cormier read from their work. After this night at “Toast,” the crowd went  bravely back into the cold night, well fortified with wine and words.