Reporter Sadie Gilbert checks out the island’s growing spoken word scene...

When I first think of poetry, my mind drifts back to English lessons at school.

Analysing the meaning of sentences and carefully chosen words, all in pursuit of a mark or grade that somehow determined your academic worth. English was always my favourite subject - I couldn’t stand Maths, which generally did little for my self-esteem.

As for poetry itself, I enjoyed it in school, but it never really stayed with me.

That was probably because we only touched on it briefly each year before moving on to something else. I also found the lack of freedom around the poetry we studied slightly frustrating.

I discovered local group XPoetry through my friend Callie, who invited me to one of their evenings at Black Dog Oven in Peel.

After attending that first event, I was struck by the vulnerability people were willing to show in a room full of strangers.

From that evening, I was hooked.

Organiser Saoirse is one of the most welcoming people you could meet, instantly putting new poets at ease while allowing the more experienced performers to settle naturally into their rhythm.

One of my personal highlights from that first evening was hearing Saoirse’s partner, Henry, read a poem about the former Bowling Green pub and the sense of injustice he felt - and probably still feels - over its closure.

Fast forward to the recent Bank Holiday weekend and I found myself in the south of the island preparing for my second event.

Held at Foraging Vintners in Port Erin, the rustic setting and easy conversation felt perfectly suited to the evening.

It was that night which really opened my eyes to the art of spoken word.

Sitting on a stool with a clear view of the microphone, I settled in to listen to the 15 speakers taking part.

Some carried notebooks, others read from phones, while a few improvised entirely on the spot.

These were people you might walk past every day without ever knowing the thoughts crossing their minds.

For me, the beauty of poetry lies in that brief glimpse into someone else’s inner world - something you might never otherwise experience from a stranger.

One person performed a poem about how frogs do not drink from their own pond. Another spoke about racism from years gone by and the parallels that still exist today.

The final speaker, a woman improvising for more than 10 minutes, genuinely moved me emotionally.

Two of the performers had travelled from the UK, including a poet from Liverpool who only discovered the event shortly beforehand. Her poem about the final trip she took with a boyfriend, while realising the relationship was coming to an end, managed to be both funny and heartfelt.

The next XPoetry event takes place in Laxey in June.

Feeling inspired by the evening, I bought myself a notebook and have set a challenge to eventually perform something of my own.

With each event, the scenery changes - which somehow feels poetic in itself.