By HILLARY KELLEY
A&E Editor
The top level of the Mason-Scharfenstein Museum served as a dimly-lit venue for Piedmont’s first monthly Poetry Salon, an event created by Dr. Timothy O’Keefe and Dr. Heidi Lynn Staples on Wednesday, March 20.
During this inaugural meeting, members of the English and art departments, as well as a few students and the director of the museum Daniel White, came together to discuss a Dobby Gibson poem titled “Upon Discovering My Entire Solution to the Attainment of Immortality Erased from the Blackboard Except the Word ‘Save’.”
The poem is from Gibson’s book entitled “Polar,” which was published in 2004.
The atmosphere in the museum matched that of the first day of spring just outside, even though the poem itself dealt with winter imagery.
For a little more than an hour, the attendees examined the themes, literary techniques and hidden treasures that the poem, read aloud in a sweet tone by O’Keefe, provided the group.
“I chose this poem because it had a lot of places to enter,” said O’Keefe.
There was no doubt that the faculty in attendance knew what they were talking about as they continuously dropped reference after reference to help express their interpretation of Gibson’s poem.
“It’s about the moments you know what you have will dissappear,” said Dr. Stephanie Almagno.
Almagno also contributed a bit of humor as she joked about turning the poem into material for her own fictitious poetry-slam performance.
Overall, the launch of Piedmont’s Poetry Salon provided students and faculty with a free-form place to express their opinions and make observations concerning poetry and other relevant issues over coffee and sweets.
Students are encouraged to attend the next Poetry Salon where Staples will provide the next poem. The exact date is to be announced, but it will take place in April.