Poetry is art; the way poets manipulate language to create a work personal to their lives or experiences is unlike any form of writing. It is subjective to one’s beliefs, which allows for rich diversity and individualism within every type of poem. On Monday, February 9th, 2026, the Contro-Verse Open Mic in Malden Centre hosted a poetry event featuring poet Finn Flood.
Contro-Verse is an opportunity for any type of poet, of any demographic, to present their work to an audience of fellow poets. Anna Geoffroy, president and founder of this organization, gathered her love for poetry at a young age revealing she had found herself “writing a lot of essays, and it wasn’t until people started yelling at me that I needed to put more line breaks in there that I started to understand that what I was writing was more poetry and less prose.”
This love for writing and eventual shift into poetry, along with help from her friend Jeff Taylor, ultimately created “Garage Poets,” an online open mic. This helped Geoffroy gain reputation and expand her social circle, becoming one of the biggest poets in Malden. “Our first show was in January of 2023, so this is our third year running. So far, we’ve been successful,” Geoffroy explained. The goal of this organization is to inspire poets and create a strong family.
Geoffroy is the host, and occasionally, she will present her own poems. Most of the time, she is in charge of introducing the next speaker, and adding additional dialogue to help the show flow smoothly and correctly. After each speaker performs once, there would be a second round, then an occasional third round to fill in time if they need to. The third round consists of anybody going, with any poem written or not, in any order.
The first speaker of the night was Jason Rubin, an author, poet, and business man. He performed an original poem where he contrasted two different types of people with snow. The “realistic” and the “romantic”; the realistic sees the mushy brown snow needing to be shoveled, while the romantic sees a beautiful sheet of creativity. Conveying a powerful message, these performers presented multiple different themes and perspectives throughout the night.
These poets see poetry as a form of language, they communicate through sharing poems with each other. “It’s just the way I prefer to express myself, if I could write instead of talk all the time, I would,” Rubin explained. For Flood, the featured poet, he expressed his remorse, and feelings of depression with the passing of his close friend through a poem titled “Morality Moment”. He reflected on how he will never let go of his friend even when people feel like leaving him behind.
A poet going by the stage name of “Jordan” performed an original work titled “3:51”, as he created it when he could not fall asleep at that hour. He dealt with feelings of addiction and longing for something, however this something he left unknown, letting the listeners fill in their struggle, which allowed for a powerful self reflection.
These were just some examples of the powerful poems being shared, revolving around ideas of oneself, morality, and love. All these poets poured a lot of heart and energy into not just writing these poems, but presenting them. “We’d love to see more people show up, so if you’re into it please come,” bassist Ethan Mackler expressed. Mackler adds a bit of flare, as Contro-Verse music, and sound effects are not pre-recorded, but performed live by Mackler on base.
Contro-Verse would love to see Malden High students there as Geoffroy is in the process of uniting students with an opportunity to learn more about them. “We are in talks with some folks at Malden High to try to set up an all ages show in celebration of National Poetry Month, this April,” Geoffroy shared. Encouraging the next generation of poets is important to them.
For more information, contact Geoffroy at bluewiggirl@gmail.com, or visit their Youtube. If you love writing, poetry could be a future for you. All of these poets started with love for writing in high school, and now have a great career in not just poetry, but writing and journalism.
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