Date of Defense
12-13-2014
Date of Graduation
12-2014
Department
English
First Advisor
Richard Kartovas
Second Advisor
Kimberly Kolbe
Abstract
Each Moment a Poem is a collection of 10 poems spanning 20 pages. The poems were written in 2014 under the mentorship of Dr. Richard Katrovas, my poetry professor, and Ms. Kimberly Kolbe, the managing editor of New Issues Press, where I was granted an internship. When 2014 began, I adopted the philosophy that each moment has the potential to become a poem, that stories can be told concisely and vividly through poetry. The poems in this collection explain and explore important moments I have experienced while awake and asleep. The poems are lucidly written in a free verse narrative style which borders on confessional poetry, but more attention is given to a description of the moments rather than an exploration the psyche. One poem explores, through individual moments, my complicated and changing relationship with spiders and insects; another examines an unsettling encounter with an Indiana wind farm; another describes what I had interpreted to be a near-death experience. Some poems tell longer stories: one describes an extended illness I faced several years ago; another tells of my childhood as a military brat. Several poems in the collection focus less on narration and more on an exploration of perception and philosophy: one poem explains the way I view the night sky, and another is a meditation on the medium of paper. Both of these poems emerged from material covered in two honors courses I took through the Lee Honors College: History and Philosophy of Science, taught by Dr. Timothy McGrew, and Art of the Book, taught by Dr. Jeff Abshear. Two poems in the collection illustrate vivid dreams I had during January of 2014: one dream was fueled by the harsh winter conditions of that time, and another was fed by my longtime fear of tornadoes. The collection's final poem is an elegy for my favorite teacher, Bonnie Brush, who died in a car accident just before I transferred to WMU in the fall of 2013. Her death impacted me greatly, and the strong emotion that surfaced helped to fuel the poetry in this collection.
Recommended Citation
Kidd, Sarah, "Each Moment a Poem" (2014). Honors Theses. 2528.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/2528
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Open Access