Cynthia Tootle stood in the doorway of the bathroom at PollySue’s Vintage Shop in Takoma Park on Sunday and began to read poetry in front of a cramped audience of about 15 people.
PollySue’s owner, Susan Collings, listened to each poem and clapped along with the group, which seemed oblivious to the fact that there was a toilet in plain sight just inches away.
‘‘Having [poetry] in the bathroom is a good idea because everyone eventually has to go there,” Collings joked. ‘‘You sort of have a captive audience.”
It was a bizarre setting for a poetry reading, an art form usually associated with a sophisticated night club or poetry slam, but for Bathroom Poetry founder Regina Coll, it was exactly the message she was hoping to get across.
‘‘I’m trying to reach out to the community,” Coll said. ‘‘There are those people who go to poetry readings regularly and set aside the time and make the trip. That’s not really the audience today.”
Coll’s goal through Sunday’s Progressive Poetry Reading at five Takoma Park businesses was to introduce poetry to a non-traditional, more down-to-earth setting — the bathroom. Coll also recorded the five poets reading their selections in the bathroom for her Web site.
‘‘Sometimes people have this sort of preconceived notion regarding poetry — that it’s always this intellectual thing,” said Sara Daines, a staff member on the Takoma Park Arts Commission that funded the event. ‘‘This was intriguing because it introduced people to the idiosyncrasies of poetry. It shows that poetry can be fun in surprising places.”
It was the first time that Coll, a Silver Spring resident, incorporated live poetry readings into her program, which was previously comprised of poems posted in various Takoma Park bathrooms.
Ron Burke, a poet from Clinton who read a sampling of his work in the back of the Video Americain store on Laurel Avenue, was stationed just outside the bathroom door. A crowd of about 15 people huddled around, surrounded by shelves of DVD’s.
‘‘I used to do poetry slams two or three times a week, but it’s 2008 — there’s no tradition any more,” Burke said when asked if he thought bathroom poetry reading was strange. ‘‘With the generation coming up, you need something to appeal to them. It can’t get more personal than this.”
Greg Moorin, owner of Summer Delights, seemed amused as people crowded into the back of his Laurel Avenue ice cream shop to hear poet Laura Goldberg.
‘‘I’m always open to new ideas and I actually think it’s a pretty sweet idea,” Moorin said. ‘‘They get a shot at homemade ice cream or fresh roasted coffee, and now they’re more tuned in with what’s going on in their neighborhood. It doesn’t take me long to see the reasoning in things.”
Poetry fans who came out for the readings appreciated the non-traditional feel of the day.
‘‘I really like the concept because I think sometimes people get afraid of the idea of poetry,” said Silver Spring resident Rob Sherrod. ‘‘It brings poetry into normal life.”
