Roses are red, violets are blue and there is a poetry forum at Sacramento State for you. Every Thursday night at Java City in the University Union, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., various writers read selections of their poetry to the 25 to 30 people who show up each week.

Sac State students Mandy Real and B.J. Shaw started the poetry forum last semester. The adviser for the poetry forum is Sac State English professor Doug Rice, who usually attends the forums.

“The poetry forum is for poets, fiction readers and writing community to bring people together,” Shaw said. “It was started out of a bi–h session about how there was no place for creative writers to present their material.”

Real and Shaw talked to the Java City management and were allowed to host their forum there. Shaw writes poetry from the perspectives of different literary personalities that he creates. He has three different writers, each with their own names and biographies.

A variety of poetry is read at the forums, with subject matter ranging from oppression to love. Some poetry is spoken fast and loud, and others have varied volume and pace.

Phil Goldvarg performed poetry that was mostly about war and oppression; one poem, entitled “Rope Burn,” talked about the raping and killing of Mexicans crossing the United States border. Its depressing subject matter was read with varying degrees of intensity. The poetry was accompanied by Mexican-style music played on a guitar and bongos.

“The poetry forum is a chance for everybody to say what they see, feel; to risk being honest and finding out about yourself,” Goldvarg said. “There are so many different types of poetry, there is a need for poetry to release oppressions that are going on.”

Reading alongside Goldvarg were Phil and Xico Gonzales, who are part of Jose Montoya?s trio Casindio and Los Revoltosos. His poetry was partly read in Spanish and was about politics, war, and the consequential tragedies resulting from actions by all sides involved in war.

This article was updated March 21, 2001.