By Daniel Paiz

Earlier this week, two different anniversaries happened for me during national poetry writing month. The first was well-documented and celebrated as the ten-year anniversary of Cypher Sessions. The second one I don’t think I’ve talked a whole lot about, to be honest.

2012 was quite a year for the writer you read from at this moment. Traveling, road trips to see the University of Colorado men’s basketball team play in March Madness, etc. April was a special month for two reasons. One is because of what’s mentioned above. The other, is what will get discussed below, as just another reminder that decade fly.

Decades Fly

It had been like, 54 years or some very unimaginable amount of time,

since the University of Colorado had received a visit,

from a commander-in-chief that was still sitting on the post upon arrival.

Make no mistake,

a majority of us at college,

weren’t fixated on heads of state,

or national or global figureheads deciding to visit

the place where the Buffaloes studied and roamed.

Instead, I might be focusing on this midterm project,

or this upcoming Blue Scholars show I can’t go to because I gotta work!

Or another show I wasn’t going to have to miss after all.

Stuff like that.

I wrote a paragraph and a half,

and after sifting through entries from future organizers,

teachers, non-profit folks, medical and business-minded students,

the Communications staff decided,

they liked the perspective of a dude who writes poetry and

just started some little novice music site.

Yeah, he talked about his important family members,

this is the kind of story the press eats up!

Fast forward to waiting at The Sink,

watching a random person get internet famous because of spilled yogurt,

getting my phone taken for hours and hours,

riding along in a motorcade at highway speeds on The Hill.

The moment I was able to seize it and own it,

although the sound system was shotty,

listeners couldn’t always understand what I said,

and the Secret Service didn’t get me my phone until after the event.

Was it as worth it for me as it was for ol’ Barry?

He likely got better press and public support out of it,

while I was kind of used like a sock puppet,

the notoriety of it though, wasn’t all that off-putting,

and the lesson of the event,

wasn’t simply how to write for an audience wanting to see themselves.

It was a chance after so many years,

to show how appreciated those back home really were.