An Open Letter to Skanks

The reading on Wednesday, May 6, at The Sanctuary was put on by the teacher and students of the Undergraduate Poetry Workshop class, which was a class taught by Jane Gregory. Thirteen poets read, all of whom were, as you can guess by the title of the class, undergraduates at the University of Iowa.

The Sanctuary was a strange place for a reading. The reading was held in the side room of the bar. The poets sat at a table and read into a microphone. The audience was surprisingly very respectful, considering the setting was a bar after eight o’clock. This was probably because 90% of the attendees were friends of the poets.

Jane Gregory, the teacher of the class, introduced the poets and commented that her time teaching had been a humbling experience. She also pointed the audience to the stack of journals on the stage, which were a collection of poems by the readers.

One of the most memorable readers was Mitch Belfield, who was introduced as a man who “hates everyone.” His poem was concerned with the flatness of tables and how boring that is. His poems were different from most all of the rest in that they were much more straightforward. They were direct and had a consistent voice. It was a bit lacking in focus, but felt genuine.

Danny Mills read one particularly inspired poem that was concerned with how the speaker saw trees as a child versus how he sees them now. It was a special experience. The audience responded well to it.

The first poet read poems which were largely voice-driven. One of his poems consisted of an extended awkward response , which prompted laughter from the audience. All of his poems were short, which the audience seemed to appreciate. He was much more brief than the rest of the poets, leaving the audience wanting more. He was a very attractive man.

In general, it was hard to pay attention to most of the poets. The poems read would warrant at least two or three readings in print, so a lot was lost there. Many of the poems had a similar tone. Like much contemporary poetry, most of the poems were airy and felt mostly empty. They used difficult words and probably were structured interestingly. They said many things that felt important, but also said very little, which is strange.

Another poet was Josh Fomon, who read a couple pieces of surreal theatre. Josh read stage directions and both characters, which made it difficult to understand. He did, however, have a nice, sharp golden tie. He introduced Emileigh Barnes, who read poems that seemed to be influenced by her home state, Georgia. Josh spoke about this in his introduction.

The reading ended with a poem that was apparently a joint effort by the last two readers, Emileigh Barnes and Josh Fomon. Its title was “An Open Letter to Skanks.” It was a piece employing high diction to contrast with the skankiness of skanks. It was entertaining.

All in all, the reading was mostly boring.

By Tony Flesher