Last Tuesday, students battled heavy rains to attend "Metaphorically Speaking," a student poetry reading at the Cave. All term, the members of Greg Hewett’s advanced poetry writing class have used a workshop approach to build up a portfolio of poetry. This reading was their chance to show off their work.
There were eighteen poets in all, and their work ranged from funny to profound to thought-provoking. Some of the poems dealt with childhood memories, while others were flights of fancy. All of them were beautiful word pictures.
Here are a couple of the poems that students read last week:
Bees
By Francesca Chubb-Confer '11
Bees as a word might begin
as onomatopoeia
of flight, the humming
restlessness of tumbling
through pollen-brimming air;
yet the monosyllable seems inadequate
for bees as bees,
each one drunk with
the collective dance,
delighting in swarms
and togetherness,
enthralled by nectar and
teeming in servitude.
May 17th
By Todd Anderson '11
I wake to the smell of unwoven
rope from the pile of projects
under my bed, and I stand up
to find it is 7:30am and the
overworked scientist I live with
grunts he will sleep a little later.
Twirling the Philadelphia Eagles
Lanyard which secures the keys
Of the car I have not borrowed
In over a year, I walk up the
Sun-gutted hill and wonder if
I still know how to drive.
The familiar toy car glints,
Glued to the dashboard and
I put the Taurus in reverse
And discover my fingertips
Barely reach around the wheel
And I have to point my toe
Like a ballerina, to press the gas.
I remember that Alex drives
Like the living dead, with
Unbent elbows and knees
So I adjust my seat and grab
A spot in front of the only
Breakfast place in town
Worth talking about.I don’t need to wait long for
Derek and I don’t need to
Wait long for two eggs that
Run in the middle and
Hash Browns that are crispy on top
And an always refilled cup of
Coffee that makes me worry
How much is enough.
Derek’s girlfriend walks in
And produces a yellow box
Of chocolates, but I can tell
From their exchange that there’s
Something more important in there,
And they kiss for not-that-long
Because that’s how love works
When you’ve forgotten something.
In the car, I tell him about friendship
And poetry and he tells
Me how to get to the airport legally,
And alive. He says that sometimes
He sits down at the key board and
There are no stories to tell, and he
Wants more life in his life.
And this reminds me, of Ben’s
Hunger and delirium, when he
Asked the waitress of that
Shitty diner, “which food
Has the most food in it?”
And she didn’t answer.The road is silent, and yes,
There is so much living
Left to do, once we find
The time, after we’ve both
Learned a little longer.
Driving home in the sun
And the heat, a part of me
Falls asleep, and I am a better
driver this way, but really,
I am far, far off.It has been only three hours
And I am back and I am
Listless. On a shaded path
I pass the girl from Saturday night,
Who always closed her eyes and
Leaned in a little when she smiled
That small smile,
Not showing any teeth.
She is talking about variables
With a man with a big, red beard
Who makes a joke and she laughs
With her eyes open, and I wonder if she
Loves him, or if she loves math
Like Derek does or if she’s ever ordered
The food with the most food.
Thinking about her as I have
Walked past her, makes me think
Of the smell of those
Two half-woven sandals
Under my bed, enough that I
Take out my pen, and jot
A little something down.
