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LEWISTON — Members of USM LAC Senior College class, Poetry Workshop, read their work for friends and family on Nov. 13.
Before they read, each poet summed up her feelings about poetry. “People evolved,” said Nancy Orr, who has taken the course before.
Eloise O’Neil said, “We had to dig deeply to get images we conceived across.”
Linda DeSantis said, “Poetry channels life experience in a positive direction.”
Instructor Bill Frayer said trying different forms of poetry such as haiku, sonnet, rhyming or free form, the poets embraced the varied “music of language,” and that using different forms changed the nature of the poem. In class, each member is given 10 minutes to read his or her poem of the week and receive suggestions from the rest of the class. Reading aloud allows “the delicious taste of syllables on our tongue,” Frayer said.
The subjects were diverse. Images of summer, woodlands, kitchens, and early childhood are familiar to us all, yet every poem brought new insight. The poets also did not duck difficult issues: getting rid of “life’s artifacts,” or death “like a handsome man at a bar, think twice before inviting him home.”
Other poems were from an unusual point of view. How does a nasturtium, captured in a painting, feel? Does the wind animate the world? Can your brain get full of too much stuff? Though some poems brought a tear to the listener’s eye, the audience had wide smiles and applause for all. During the reception afterward, the poets shared their fears, frustration and exhilaration as they worked on their creations.
This is the third year the Poetry Workshop has been offered by Senior College. Those looking for something to explore may join Senior College to take advantage of one-day winter classes beginning in January and the spring courses beginning in March. The college is at 51 Westminster St.
For membership information, visit www.usm.maine.edu/seniorcollege or call 207-780-5960.
PHOTO: Members of the USM LAC Senior College Poetry Workshop at their November reading. From left, Linda DeSantis, Nancy Orr, Harolyn Zaldumbide, instructor Bill Frayer, Diane Clay, Darlene Glover, Eloise O’Neill. (Submitted photo)
