A genre out of the 1950s and 60s is enjoying a revival with open-microphone opportunities for local poets to read their works.

While not exactly in the vein of beat poet Allen Ginsberg, Gary Malone of Athens reads his poetry aloud at several bookstores and coffee shops in Huntsville.

“I write from all perspectives – religion, love, politics,” said Malone. “My gift is to write from any perspective because I can put myself in many places.”

Malone, 44, always knew he had the heart of a poet but never had confidence in his ability to write until his pastor helped him gain courage. He marks his emergence as a writer and public speaker as June 2003.

“I attend the Fellowship of Faith in Huntsville, but at my former church here in Athens, my pastor was Troy Garner,” said Malone. “When he moved to Fellowship of Faith, I followed him over there. While we were in Athens I had a vision to start a men’s ministry. I wrote a lesson plan titled, ‘Brothers United As One: 12 Steps to Unity.’ I carried it to him and told him I wanted him to read it.

“He said, ‘You wrote it; you read it. You teach it.’ I told him that I had trouble talking in front of people. He gave me some pointers and I did it. But no matter how many times I stand up in front of people and talk I am carried back to that moment of anxiety. With my poetry I’m more comfortable speaking in front of a group of strangers than friends.”

Malone works for PPG Aerospace in Huntsville, which produces windows for aircraft. The production work pays the bills, but he said that one of the most satisfying jobs he has held was as a program service aide at Bradford Health Services. There, he worked with adolescents from 13 to 19.

“That was just such a rewarding experience,” he said. “I had the opportunity to help so many young people. I was really in a down place myself when I went to work there and by taking the focus off me and onto them, it helped me.”

Today, his young Bradford clients’ drawings line the walls of his study. While at Bradford, he was able to use his gift for poetry and storytelling to help troubled youths feel special and put their problems into perspective.

He said he would do an exercise in which he asked them what or who they would be if they could be anything they wanted. He would use the pretend characters or animals that the teens chose and write a story using their personal situations. One story is about a gorilla and a lion. The gorilla lives in a dark place and has a foul mouth. The lion lives in light and is victorious over the jungle because he lives in the open.

Malone said he was inspired anew by the recent election of Barack Obama as president.

“I’m not going to fool myself and say that racism in America is gone, but now I see a time when people can love each other for who they are instead of looking at color,” he said.

Part of the poem he wrote on the candidacy of Obama, “War,” says:

“Harriet, reopen the Underground Railroad and let me on board

Fuel its engine with knowledge and power as we unite