By Chloe Bailey
Elm Staff Writer
Out of the muted whispers, a hush descends upon the Literary House. It’s late on a Tuesday evening, and while the rest of campus may be deserted, a dedicated group of bibliophiles have just begun their night. Armed with mugs of tea and various poetic anthologies, the group listens intently as club president freshman Abby Wargo begins to speak: “Hey, everyone, welcome to Poetry Club.”
She cracks open a dog-eared copy of “Ariel” by Sylvia Plath, and reads her favorite selection, “Lady Lazarus.” After the ebb and flow of her voice fades, the group sits in silence for just a moment, taking in the atmosphere. Just as quickly as the quiet set in, it gives way to enthusiastic discussion of the piece and its author. Several other members share poems from every source imaginable, from heavy tomes to Reddit comments.
One in particular sends the group into hyena laughter: “my name is Cow/and wen its nite/or wen the moon is shi- yning brite/and all the men haf gon to bed/i stay up late/i lik the bred.” Despite the humorous nature of the piece, Wargo maintains that poetry is “like human emotion personified… [without] any one definition,” and encourages appreciation of works of all sorts.
Wargo says that, “anyone who is at least a little curious about poetry should go and see what [they’re] about.” Like many students at WC, she used to consider poetry to be, “some aloof thing that is only accessible to academics,” but has come to love the art form because ,“anyone and everyone can be influenced by poetry.”
The current members of the club fully exemplify this belief. Lauren Frick, freshman, stated that she, “doesn’t have any formal training in poetry, but loves it as a form of personal expression.” Likewise, many of the members started coming to learn more about poetry, and have stayed because they en- joy the camaraderie shared between members.
The club meets weekly, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evenings in the Rose O’Neill Literary House. The club is structured in an A/B week pattern. On A weeks, members bring in poems with a similar topic, and discuss them together. The topics Wargo chooses for the club are complex and controversial, with a guarantee that discussion will be anything but boring. B weeks offer the opportunity for aspiring poets to bring their work in to read to the group, and receive criticism if they want it. As for your writing abilities? There’s no need to feel intimidated when sharing your work; Wargo said, “poetry is a really great communicator, and it has changed my life.” So if you’re free on a Tuesday night, stop by the Lit House and enjoy.