Love Bitesby Janine Brooks
On Saturday, February 13, 2010, the students of the Kappa Gamma Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta at University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) hosted a poetry reading at the Kaneko Creative Arts Library in the historic Old Market district in Omaha, Nebraska. This was made available free of charge to the general public.
Many of the students in Kappa Gamma participated in the readings. Each was given approximately 15 to 20 minutes in which to read; the event lasted a little over two hours. The poems read were meant to be either spiteful toward a loved one or satirical in nature reflecting on love. Classical authors such as John Keats, Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, and Lord Byron, among others, were shared alongside some of today’s poets including Billy Collins and Matt Mason.Two poets--Dr. Michael Skau (a professor in the English Department at UNO) and Janine Brooks (that would be me!)--each read their own original pieces. Dr. Skau read longer pieces that tended to appreciate the smaller details in his life when it came to love that he felt deserved attention. His works, which were thought-provoking, left the listener to dwell on the image left behind in the mind. I read satirical works which drew laughter from the audience. My works were shorter but still left the essence of a thought behind for the listener. One of the poems I read, a tanka called “Lovers,” was written on one particular night when my male bearded dragon decided to show off his sexual prowess to his mate. (Of course, I didn’t tell my audience this until after I’d read the poem aloud.) I warn you it is rather ugly, but understandable in the end: Lovers (Tanka)Enraptured moment, He grabs her, bites her – she struggles Entwined, the two mate Flailing an arm, she breaks away Two dragons while making love.
For those of you who may consider hosting your own “Love Bites” night, remember to make the setting somewhat romantic to help set the mood. We used long-stemmed red roses and lots of stringed beads. You might also want to provide some refreshments for the crowd so that both before and after your event some mingling can occur. Who knows, perhaps “Love Bites” could be used by your chapter as a tool to help network for the establishment of a library for an underprivileged group of people living in your community?
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