Poets at the 16th Annual Women’s Poetry Night shared poems about Italian getaways, Boy Scouts, astronomy conferences in Nebraska and the importance of recycling Hershey’s Kisses wrappers.
The MU’s Women’s Center hosted Tuesday night’s event as part of Women’s History Month and selected the six poets from the MU, Stephens College and Columbia communities.
The audience filled the Women’s Center, lounging in armchairs and eating baked goods while listening as the poets expressed their diverse experiences and styles.
Emcee Struby Struble, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Resource Center coordinator, began the event by explaining that poetry is like a mirror of our lives.
Her poetry was empowering as she proudly stated that people are more than numbers, and that life gets better every year. After her emotionally charged poem about women forced to lead normal lives in the face of sexual abuse, Struble lightened the mood by murmuring, “Ooo, angry poem.” Her final poem urged the audience to show off their tan lines.
“I want to see your truth laid out on your skin,” Struble said.
Stephens College junior Grace Pittman spoke in a soft voice about difficult and bold topics.
“I wanted you to die when I found that postcard,” she said at the beginning of one poem.
The poem expressed feelings of insecurity as a lover travels to India and meets another girl. Her final poem gave a haunting description of an instance of sexual abuse that lasted for years.
MU poetry Ph.D. candidate Claire McQuerry read poems from her collection, “Lacemakers,” which was published this January. McQuerry said she has been studying creative writing for years.
“My poems come from a mix of experiences, some from my life, and some from stories my friends and family tell me,” McQuerry said. “So I’m always a little nervous about their reactions to seeing a poem about their life. One poem in Lacemakers is a funny story about my mother’s honeymoon.”
Stephens College professor Tina Parke-Sutherland has performed at all 16 Women’s Poetry Nights, and declared to the audience that she wants to start a collection of post-menopausal love poems. Parke-Sutherland is in the midst of writing a novel. Her poetry expressed the joys of spring and told of the mythical heroines whom made the world.
Chelsea Reynolds, MU graduate student and adjunct instructor at the School of Journalism, focused on sounds over words in her highly lyrical style of poetry. She began by warning the audience to keep in mind that she treats men like dogs. In one poem she adopted the persona of a fox pursuing a rabbit, and in another she described feelings of restlessness while watching a lightning storm.
MU Ph.D. candidate Lianuska Gutierrez described plastic surgery in a gruesome light, not only physically but also emotionally, as it can alter a person’s inner self. Her chilling message addressed a person who becomes an aggressor because they couldn’t move beyond the abuse they suffered in their own life.
The audience consisted of mainly students whom came early and stayed late, mingling with their peers and the poets long after the performances ended.
MU freshman Frankie Pelusi said she was very impressed with the diversity of poets and their poetry.
“I expected more poems relating to social justice since this event is part of Women’s History Month, but I was so impressed that the poems weren’t that black and white,” Pelusi said. “They were about so many different issues.”
