Snaps and cheers fill the room as a young poet stands before a modest crowd, reciting an original poem. Scarcely a month before his performance in the Louder than a Bomb slam poetry competition, senior Matt Broomer joined the WHS poetry slam team, marking the beginning of his slam poetry career. This is his first public performance.

Broomer began writing poetry a few summers ago in his spare time.

“It just became something to do at a time when I didn’t have much else going on,” Broomer said. It wasn’t long before Broomer realized he had a passion for poetry. He got into writing poetry after reading poems such as “Howl” and “America” both written by Allen Ginsberg.

“They were lasting proof that not all ‘good’ poetry needs to be something along the lines of a Shakespearean sonnet,” Broomer said.

Broomer’s discovery of this genre inspired him to start writing poetry.

“It’s one of the ways I process things. Everyone I know has a distinct method of interpreting and interacting with the world around them. It’s also a pretty limitless medium. Writers can say pretty much whatever they want and call it symbolism,” Broomer said.

In addition to its flexibility in interpretation, Broomer enjoys the artistic aspect of poetry.

“Each reader can interpret a piece according to his or her personal experiences. The processes of reading and writing are extremely subjective, and I think that’s an important quality in art, “ Broomer said. “At the very least, it’s amusing.”

Broomer’s poems consist of a variety of topics.

“I like to write about big-picture societal issues, but what I often end up writing about is myself,” Broomer said.

Broomer considers his performance in the Louder Than a Bomb competition to be his greatest accomplishment in poetry.

“A few months before, I would have never imagined myself doing anything with something I had written, much less getting up and reading it in front of people. It was a major accomplishment in that it was a big step forward,” Broomer said.

Broomer continues to stay involved with poetry in his everyday life.

“Some of my favorite writers and poets are Bret Easton Ellis, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Allen Ginsberg, Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac and Stephen King. Currently, I’m in the middle of ‘Nine Stories’ by Salinger and am in the midst of arriving embarrassingly late to the Salinger game.”

In his words, Broomer plans to continue writing in the future, “As best I can.”