Dark, funny poetry wows Bucks students
JAY JONES
Issue date: 12/11/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
It's Friday night and outside the
library auditorium a modest crowd
has started to gather, all moving
inside to take their seats before the
show begins.
Bucks hosted a night of poetry, a
program presented by the Bucks
Cultural Programming Committee.
This event kicked-off Black History
Month on campus with readings by
famous poets Gerald Stern and Ross
Gay.
The lights dimmed and the crowd
hushed as they entered the crisp, hallowed
halls of the auditorium.
"This feels like a homecoming to
me," remarked Gay. "I used to skateboard
here and get chased by what
we liked to call the rent-a-cops."
The audience erupted in laughter as
the atmosphere instantly becomes
light-even the most serious face
cracks a smile.
Gay is a graduate of Neshaminy
High School and author of "Against
Which," a book of dark-humored and
morbid poetry. For a happy young
man with a bright green shirt and a
big smile, his poems are gritty and
dark.
"Taught you cursing…need to murder…
hands strong for strangling or
praying," are piquant lines from
Gay's poetry.
Dark and highly original words, but
as a skilled speaker Gay knows when
to pause and when to yell; he can
keep an entire audience mesmerized
with the level of description he uses.
In the third row one patron could
only remark 'whoa' before breaking
out in applause.
"His is a poetry that slams the attention
of the reader with considerable
force wrought with linguistic eloquence,"
according to a book review
from the Midwest Review.
The audience chatted ideally among
themselves as they wait for the next
reader to come up on stage, discussing
the daily hub-bub around
campus, laughing at inside jokes and
wondering how the next writer will
live up to Gay.
One lady giggled, as she talked with
her friends. "Thank you for bringing
me!" she whispered to her three girlfriends
beside her. All of them go
library auditorium a modest crowd
has started to gather, all moving
inside to take their seats before the
show begins.
Bucks hosted a night of poetry, a
program presented by the Bucks
Cultural Programming Committee.
This event kicked-off Black History
Month on campus with readings by
famous poets Gerald Stern and Ross
Gay.
The lights dimmed and the crowd
hushed as they entered the crisp, hallowed
halls of the auditorium.
"This feels like a homecoming to
me," remarked Gay. "I used to skateboard
here and get chased by what
we liked to call the rent-a-cops."
The audience erupted in laughter as
the atmosphere instantly becomes
light-even the most serious face
cracks a smile.
Gay is a graduate of Neshaminy
High School and author of "Against
Which," a book of dark-humored and
morbid poetry. For a happy young
man with a bright green shirt and a
big smile, his poems are gritty and
dark.
"Taught you cursing…need to murder…
hands strong for strangling or
praying," are piquant lines from
Gay's poetry.
Dark and highly original words, but
as a skilled speaker Gay knows when
to pause and when to yell; he can
keep an entire audience mesmerized
with the level of description he uses.
In the third row one patron could
only remark 'whoa' before breaking
out in applause.
"His is a poetry that slams the attention
of the reader with considerable
force wrought with linguistic eloquence,"
according to a book review
from the Midwest Review.
The audience chatted ideally among
themselves as they wait for the next
reader to come up on stage, discussing
the daily hub-bub around
campus, laughing at inside jokes and
wondering how the next writer will
live up to Gay.
One lady giggled, as she talked with
her friends. "Thank you for bringing
me!" she whispered to her three girlfriends
beside her. All of them go
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