"Out of my Comfort Zone"

I don't quite feel uneasy
But I'm well out of place
Arriving a little too early
Desperate for a friendly poetry face.
'The Verge' bar in Shoreditch
Definately not my cup of tea
A place whose doors I'd never darken
Not the sort of bar for me.
To make it worse I don't drink
Dunno if that makes me a loser
But even though I'd stay sober
I'd be more at home in a traditional
Back street boozer.
I should've done my 'usual'
And gone to 'Poetry Unplugged' up town
Instead of sitting in this poncy gaff
Winding myself up with a frown.
I'm sure once it all starts
I'll be gein to feel ok
As I'm growing to love poetry
Morning, night and day.
Could it be my preconception
Of poetry being  for the educated crowd
Time for me to ignore that
And plough on unbowed.
Turns out my worries were over nothing
They seemed to really enjoy my two
About time I stopped judging people
If I'm going to see this poetry through.
I'm now at that stage of performing
Where I genuinely appreciate what others think
The fact they seem to like me
Leaves me tickled pink.
As the evening wore on
I even got used to the bar
You can't beat a good round of applause
To make you feel like a star!
I know I'll never be able to
But I need to stop hating the middle class
I'm not saying they're 'all' decent
But I'm talking half out of my arse.
Because if they can stop and listen
And enjoy what I have to say
Surely I can do the decent thing-
Do the same and meet halfway.

Dulwich Poet 18th November 2014

( I went to 'Spoken', a spoken word & music night, in Shoreditch, on the corner of Brick Lane. It was in a bar I would never go into, as it's not my type of place. Perhaps this poem was about my nervousness & insecurity at being in such a bar, but once the poetry started I calmed down and enjoyed the evening.)