What the Heck is a Kickabout?
By Darryl Lovie
It never ceases to amaze how the creative process of assembling letters into a particular order to form words and then assembling those words into a particular order to form poetry can affect people.
The very assembly of the letters MOVE ME demonstrates that.
It recognises this space is about just that; moving people. Poetry is, after all, emotion in the written form. As Movers, we lay ourselves and our feelings bare on the page.
Writing can be as cathartic and reflective as it can be uplifting and joyful. That, I think, we all recognise. The same can be said for reading poetry. Another’s words can inspire a whole range of emotional reactions. What I didn’t realise until recently, however, is that as much as a poet’s words are a gift to the reader from the writer, those same words can be a gift in return.
This is where the spoken word finds its place.
I recently watched an incredible poet speak his fantastic poetry and was taken aback at just how powerful that can be. In turn, I read one of my own and found it as powerful an experience. I was yet to fully appreciate the force for good it could be. Another amazing poet mentioned that she would love to hear one of her pieces spoken. I was
happy to oblige. In doing so, I finally understood. The reaction from that poet was something I will never forget. In turn, one of my poems was read and the circle was complete.
This feeling on hearing the interpretation and appreciation of your own work by another was something that needed to be experienced by others. And thus, the Kickabout was born.
Why “Kickabout”?
Well, on Christmas Day 1914, British, French, and German troops left their trenches and entered no man’s land to engage in games of soccer (football), exchanging food and souvenirs and singing carols together. What better an example could be found for what we do with our spoken word poetry? We battle, albeit in a much friendlier fashion, for three weeks in the month and lay down our arms on the final weekend to exchange our words in peace.
Here’s the best part, however. We have seen it evolve in a way in which none of us could have imagined. Not only does it provide confidence in your own work to receive the blessing of a Kickabout reading, it is inspiring confidence in others to show courage that they may not otherwise have felt possible to speak the words of fellow Movers.
Poetry is truly a gift. It is a gift to the world born of emotion. It can also be a gift in return. That is at the beating heart of the Kickabout. That is at the beating heart of Move Me Poetry.
We invite you to join us this weekend (and every other last weekend of the month) as we share our words with one another. On Friday, head over to Magnolia's pinned tweet on her Twitter page for the main thread and find poetry to read under these hashtags, #MMPkickabout, #Mover, #MMPoetryBattle. Going forward, we will rotate host accounts, which will be detailed on our monthly events calendar found on our community page.
For those who don't feel comfortable reading aloud, feel free to leave comments and immerse yourself in the emotion of what it means to give. Come be part of the movement!
About the Author:
Darryl Lovie is a defence lawyer in the UK with a focus on childhood trauma. He’s an incredibly talented poet (My words as he struggles to see his talent) who has this amazing ability of celebrating others’ successes and bringing a sense of community anywhere he goes. He, along with three others, head our Kickabout movement here at Move Me Poetry.