A hush settled over the dark room, focus drawn to a stage marked out by golden light and a figure standing behind a single microphone stand. Twinkling lights settled an anticipatory magic over the audience as the night breeze meandered through the open door at the back. Then came the poetry, tumbling and breaking, sometimes fast, sometimes soft, warm, cold, and filled with meaning. Sometimes funny, sometimes sober, but always carrying a little piece of the speaker as they opened up to the world.
Though a part of me has often struggled to understand the complexities within a verse of free form or the nuances that tie together occasionally fragmented lines of words, I hold a deep respect for the art of poetry and the deep emotion that can be conveyed from the heart of a poet. Nu Sigma (the English Honor Society) and The Scriptorium (the creative writing club)’s Poetry Night highlighted one of my favorite parts of poetry: its ability to bring people together.
Alannah Tjhatra (junior, biochemistry), president of The Scriptorium, states, “I love seeing creative writing celebrated on campus. I think poetry can definitely bring a new perspective to ideas or concepts that are prevalent today—help us see them in a new light. It’s inspirational, thought-provoking, and honestly just really fun—and it’s so important that we get to share that with each other.”
Twelve individuals took to the stage on Saturday evening, October 2, to share poetry with the gathered crowd. Some were self-authored, while others came from favored poets, with themes and content ranging from aphids and tulips to computer browsers and sweaters. Each one, however, offered that special opportunity to exchange perspectives and inspire new thought.
Marcel Mattox (junior, social work) shared one of his own self-written poems, entitled “To the Ones.” Over the course of his reading, he championed the everyday heroes, explaining that he wrote it “because of the people I’ve been blessed to have in my life, who’ve shown me my worth because that worth is inherent. That’s what I hope people take with them, and hopefully keep with them no matter whatever life they’ve lived up to this point.”
Later on, Andrew Pak (sophomore, piano performance) gave a moving retelling of Savannah Brown’s “a growing thing,” stating in his introduction that it was a poem that first inspired him to create his own poetry. He expresses, “I loved how Savannah Brown crafts a poem that captures the process of growing up from a fresh perspective—observing and interacting with her younger self. The imagery is just fantastic and carries some kind of aching nostalgia that many of us may share if we played outside often as kids, and I thought it was a powerful reminder of how the inner child still lives within us.”
Following more wonderful readings, Alexander Hess (junior, English) gave a presentation of two poems by queer activist Alok Menon. Each one stood out to him in different ways, but both called to him through their poignant embedded messaging. Of the first poem, he enthuses, “I chose “we remain incorrigible” because I love how the poem encapsulates the complexity of human identity—how our imperfections are what make us beautiful.” He goes on to say, “For “falling in love with ideas of people,” I loved the poem’s energy, how it held nothing back, but also presented extremely thought-provoking queries about our underlying motivations in love.”
Although the three presenters provide only a snapshot into the wonderful lineup, Grace No (sophomore, English) summed it up perfectly in saying, “I loved how the night brought together a lot of the English department, and it was nice to have a face-to-face event since I never got that last year as a freshman. Everyone's poems were beautiful, and the setup with the lights and couches really made it feel like a very special night.” The event offered a sense of connection in a new way–perhaps the way English majors and lovers do best–through their favorite pieces of writing.
As the program came to a close, full of snapping, clapping, and doughnuts all around, I had the chance to sit and ponder, for just a minute, what I had been able to participate in. It’s not every day you’re asked to be a part of a poetry event, after all. I became more and more aware of just how lucky I had been to get to see sides of people I’d never seen before. Poetry does something quite special in the way that it allows us to speak things we’ve perhaps never known how to express, and those moments of shared connection are invaluable. Perhaps we should all go to more poetry events–or just ask more people to share their stories with us. I think we might all learn something pretty important.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.