The spotlight focuses on center stage as a poet prepares to expose his soul to a crowd of expectant listeners. He has no script in hand or cue cards in his pocket. Instead, everything is etched into his mind and spoken at a moment’s notice.

This is what Walter Blackmon experiences every time he steps on stage to recite spoken word. While this form of expression is a popular activity, many like Blackmon say poetry also works well to relieve stress. Blackmon said his definition of poetry embodies life itself.

“Poetry is life,” Blackmon said. “There’s so much going on in the living of it that inspiration is all out there and a lot of things you can not help but speak on.” Blackmon finds this inspiration in everyday life. “I practice or write pretty much every day,” Blackmon said. “When I perform it, I do it from memory. A poem kind of just comes out of you; you have to let it out.”

Others find different sources of inspiration.

Dana Dennard, a professor of psychology at Florida A&M and owner of Amen-Ra’s Bookshop, said his inspiration comes from music.

“I’m a musician and the practice of poetry is really like the lyrics for songs,” said Dennard.

“Poetry is rhythmic process, it’s a way of translating certain aspects of reality that really are beyond words,” Dennard said. “You attempt to convey something that really cannot be captured in words. Music is the same thing.”

Poets often try to relate to their audience by writing about their own experiences.

“I think what makes it important is the fact that if one person is thinking or going through something, there are others going through the same thing,” Blackmon said. “I did a piece about being in a relationship with a woman who thought money was more important.”

“After doing the poem, I had countless (men) come say ‘I’m glad you did that poem; I could never get up and say what I’ve been through,” Blackmon continued.

Keith Rodgers, founder and CEO of the Black on Black Rhyme poetry troupe, said he finds his inspiration for poetry in everyday situations he witnesses.

“I can see a car wreck and write a poem called ‘Get it Together,’ or see somebody die and write a poem about life, you never know,” said Rodgers. “I’m just fascinated by rhyme, from Easter speeches in church to rappers, nursery rhymes and old country songs like "The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

Rodgers said people would receive a different response from telling their friends or family about their problems as opposed to strangers.

“I love to hear others recite poetry, that’s part of my inspiration,” Rodgers said. “Just to see people create, to take a language or certain words and bend it, that expands it. I love the creativity and the wordplay of it.”

Whether done for the sake of entertainment, cathartic release, insight into other people’s experiences, or to understand life poetry can be beneficial.