This past Wednesday I attended Baruch College’s Fall Poetry Revel. The event featured a number of student and faculty readers reciting a variety of poems. Some of these works covered relationships, religion, and family. However, it was one student’s poem about intimacy between a man and a woman that truly caught my attention (this student did not share their name).

The poem, titled “She Loves When I Randomly Come Over,” focused on romantic interactions between a couple. The poem’s narrator was a man expressing the pleasure of making love to a female partner, along with how he perceives the woman to feel in this experience. The author performed their work quite well, giving character to the narrator. Their voice reflected an attitude of confidence, something of a sense of power over the female character. This effectively portrayed the female partner as someone who simply could not resist the male character. There was also joy in their tone, reflecting the sense of pleasure associated with such romantic moments. The confidence and joy fused together gave the poem more of a one-sided telling, that the pleasure truly exists in the male perspective.

Listening and experiencing the poem in person was very enriching. When reading quietly to one’s self you understand the message solely through your perspective, while when listening to it in person you interpret the meaning through how it is verbally delivered. The reader’s tone highly affects the way in which a poem may be interpreted. Giving voice to a poem adds perspective. The male character came more off as confident and powerful in the relationship through the degree of pleasure represented in his voice (perhaps a more appropriate title would have been “I Love When I Randomly Come Over”). The reader also spoke rather lowly too, reflecting the intimacy of the moments in the writing. Leaning against the wall demonstrated how lax he feels being with his love. It was somewhat odd listening to such graphic images being read aloud at a school event, but nevertheless demonstrated a well thought out work.

This experience granted me a whole new understanding of the craft of writing. Writers use words to not only develop story but also to evoke emotion. It wasn’t really the story the couple had but more so the feelings expressed in their intimacy. Very little was actually told regarding the background of the relationship, but more so the pleasure associated with being with each other. Although the narrator clearly values the female partner both emotionally and romantically, the words emphasized the act of the two having intercourse, the image of that and the resulting feelings. Writing is not solely about telling stories or creating messages, it is about creating images, evoking emotion, and attracting attention to subject matter. I did not expect such a topic to be covered at this event, but the work definitely stood out in comparison to the others in content. Overall, attending this reading was a very nice experience. This was my first actual reading event and I look forward to attending similar events in the future.