When it comes to a significant other, you can either love, lust or loathe them. Shippensburg University students poured their hearts out at Sunday’s poetry slam hosted by The Reflector.
McFeely’s Coffeehouse transformed into a Valentine’s Day party with red plastic tablecloths and pink-infused cupcakes as The Fray’s “How to Save a Life” played in the room. Lexi Mills, who manages public relations for The Reflector, led the event.
The evening began with a powerful poem by Kayla Keller titled “To the One That Got Away.” It talked about never finding someone to love you like your former lover.
In between poetry readings, Mills called raffle tickets and let music play while the audience digested the beautifully woven words from the previous poet.
Next up was Ali Laughman with her series of three poems that got progressively tragic. During her last poem, she played her acoustic guitar.
Caelan Lacquement read his poem titled “Bending Together,” which also started out sad but ended sweetly about a couple that overcame obstacles but stuck together.
Additionally, Daniel Le read several poems about wanting to change and be better for a loved one. He touched on the issue of fearing losing a partner, apologizing for your imperfections and learning to love.
“Your eyes catch my attention/ I know I shouldn’t fall in love/ But you’re the exemption,” Le said.
The evening took a humorous turn when Heather Ritter, The Reflector’s associate editor, read a poem from an old issue of Spawning Pool titled “Butt II.” Afterward, Mills gave a shout out to The Reflector’s creations and encouraged new writers.
“This is a chance for you to try out your poems before submitting,” Mills said.
The Reflector is currently accepting found poems, satire prose and activisim artwork for its next issue. Those interested can email reflect@ship.edu by March 9.
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