Duke English Majors present: Shelter in Poetry,” a series dedicated to sharing some of our favorite poems as we shelter in place. Here we join the efforts of @williamsenglishdepartment" and the Academy of American Poets (#shelterinpoems), among others, to bring solace and solidarity to these uncertain times.
Student Girls
A Southern Element Collection
by Sophie Laettner, 20
English
2020 Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. Award for Poetry Winner
* BONUS - Student Girls Reprised (Recently Rewritten)
A Southern Element Collection
by Sophie Laettner, 20
English
2020 Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. Award for Poetry Winner
I know girls -
students of their astrocytic worlds and spaces’ strong star signs
who sing spells of ribbon, rose, sage, spine, shutter, selenite, window blind
ribbon, rose, sage, spine, shutter, selenite, window blind
ribbon, rose, sage, spine, shutter, selenite, window blind
girls whose crystalline utterances are saved for those most close familial friends and sacred
who hear the language that trees speak when there isn't a place to go or a place to be
only look, hear, smell, touch, see
who have sutras of wishes, expectations, dreamed realities in their minds
who at the same time, create a palimpsest- rewriting those things they fear will not come true palimpsest sexual interactions with boys who do not care or girls who do not care or pretend they do not care and who can tell who cares or not
who decorate their walls with record labels in blue tones in rooms filled with blue bottles and blue phones
who forget the names that they meet the night before but recognize the faces and feel where they are sore
from being swung around, danced, twisted, turned as if in an attempt to make them fall on the wet wooden floor and wake up bruised on their back side
who count their intake of food unlike any animals on earth and who forget to take care of themselves unless they have a reason to
cunning linguists who use cunning linguistics to entice boys to wet their dry lips
who have loving absentee anachronistic toothpick-teethed fathers
with toothpick-teethed fathers hopping on and off planes in and out of cars and onto a poster with mothers drowned in wine and the umbilical Biblical beliefs of their mothers
of their mothers of their mothers of their mothers mothers mothers
whose wandering midnight minds see there is a bit of poetry in the paper version
whose emails end in your best my best all best echoed here and whisper hello miss stress,
it's nice to see you again, you came back along on such short notice
girls who laugh to have heard “there is no reason for feminism or no need”
girls who need a matte male friend to walk with them since they cannot walk alone at dark
who know not to walk through the gardens at night because they should be afraid of meeting a man
girls who are afraid of meeting a man
who turn around and go back because they would rather meet a snake
girls who beg for a window in their room
who beg for a soft hand free of hangnail to caress your lambs ear in the yard
who become prettier when they cry and they wonder why you want to make them cry
is it because they are prettier when they cry?
girls who swoon under the sound of a voice like cold water a black British Brad Pitt voice
a cool gentle morning sound coming from the lips of one whose sound makes her consider:
isn't it strange that our mouths are making birds songs and just as the birds sing so do our voices serve the same purpose.
* If you would like to share a video for this series please upload your video of you reading poem here and include your name, class year, major, and title of work you are reading. Faculty and staff please include your name, title/position, department and title of the work you are reading.
English Department