But Tuesday nights at the Skylight Exchange Cafe, poetry is anything but hidden as students and community members share their work in the form of spoken-word poetry.
Expanding since its birth at the 1990s Brooklyn slam poetry movement, spoken-word poetry incorporates performance, rhythm and music into the verses, proving that poetry is more than just words on paper.
And although Chapel Hill teems with artists, poets and performers, it has only recently found a spoken-word scene of its own.
Vague Metaphors, founded in April by UNC senior studio art and communication studies major Ayesha Atkinson, is the only spoken-word poetry group in the area that meets consistently.
"Business-wise it's helped," Gavin said. "Tuesday night was always a quiet night, and now there's something happening. It's a night without bands."
Each show begins with an open-mic session in which people -- especially students -- are invited to read or perform their poetry. Following the open-mic sessions is a performance from a featured artist.
Mood-setting and audience interaction, key parts of the shows, are regulated by host Dasan Ahanu and D.J. Troy Grier, who performs as Dr. Mindbenda.
"The music creates the mood at the beginning, and the featured poet pretty much controls that," Grier said.
While each poet brings something different, Atkinson said she keeps positive messages in mind when booking artists and encouraging students. Newcomers can expect acceptance and creative freedom.
"There is never going to be a time when someone gets booed off the stage because it's not a competition, it's not a talent showcase," Atkinson said. "It's not a place to make a mockery, but it's a free environment."
In other atmospheres, spoken-word's signature freestyle performances could lead to conflict, said Calvin Morrow, an alumnus and hip-hop artist who regularly attends the shows.
"But (Vague Metaphors) is all love," Morrow said.
Atkinson said this kind of environment provides students with an outlet for creativity and active participation. "The main reason I continue to do (Vague Metaphors) is because it's an outlet for people," she said. "People have a long week, they work, and they want to go out and participate in an event.
"A few poets have told me, 'This is my home,'" she said. "People actually use this to deal with their problems -- things they can't talk about."
It's no surprise, then, that a typical Vague Metaphors show touches on issues ranging from love and relationships to intense social commentary.
"I think a lot of it deals with trying to be positive and come together to express your own take on the world," Morrow said. "It comes to the state of the world and how we can make things better."
At the Sept. 24 Vague Metaphors show, positive tension gradually permeated a low-key atmosphere.
Against a backdrop of bookshelves, about 15 people read and performed their poetry at the open mic. Some looked comfortable and rarely missed a beat. Others, many of them first-timers, seemed nervous yet kept reading their innermost thoughts with urgency.
Featured artist Shirlette Ammons incorporated some of the open-mic poets' controversial themes into her act.
"I think it's time for us to be offended, because we're being fed a lot of bullshit these days," Ammons said.
She began by reading and then slowly incorporated more rhythm; the DJ added music to support it. Her transition from reading to freestyle rapping was flawless and spread like wildfire.
Within seconds, she and the crowd around her were in synchronization, and the cafe pulsated with rhythm.
And this key transition -- from the poem on paper to its surroundings -- is the essence of spoken-word, said Atkinson. "When you take a poet away from his paper and his pen, he is a metaphor."
Vague Metaphors meets Tuesdays from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. at the Skylight Exchange. Cost is $3 before 9:30, $5 after 9:30 and an additional $1 for those who want to perform at the open mic.
The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.
