“Little red, little kidney, little mouth

singing, calling: I’m here! I’m here! I thought

 the dirt would give you something to take hold of:

 I’ve buried everything I’ve ever loved.” (Laurie Ann Guerrero)

Reading these lines along with Laurie Ann’s other poems on my own was fascinating. But hearing these words come directly from her, accompanied by a flow of emotions that almost brought me to tears, was a completely different experience.

The truth is, I never expected to be able to identify with poetry to the extent that I did this last Tuesday, when the poet Laurie Ann had given us the honor of coming and openly discussing her life and experiences in our class.

Laurie Ann has a tremendous talent, and certainly, she has been successful in making it public and enlightening us, the readers, with her work. During the discussion, she had stressed the fact that her primary intention is to bring the reader into her space; “to see everything that is happening through my skin,” and to use all senses in order to bring the poem into the reader’s life.

After she told us about all the difficulties and the challenges that she had endured as a child, I grew to appreciate even more her determination and courage. I suddenly recognized her poetry as something that was realistically crucial for her own survival and success. She further supported this idea with a quote that I will not forget: “Poetry is not a luxury.” Indeed, poetry is often viewed as a luxury, when in fact, it often becomes a necessity and a source of motivation to believe, and to never give up. As for Laurie Ann, writing poetry was a way of documenting the events in her life. It enabled her to break the silence that she had been forced into, and to discover her own body and identity. Her poetry emerged from a very dark, lonesome place, and after so many years, it grew to become something that is so beautiful and well appreciated.

In addition to learning about Laurie Ann’s life and struggles, I also learned to view poems from a different perspective and appreciate them in a different way. Poems are not just a blur; they are not just a collection of random words. Every word has a meaning, and every meaning has a value, and every value is significant for the understanding of the poem and our ability to perceive it as part of our own lives.