Sigma Kappa Delta holds Dead Poets open mic

By: Miguel Detillier
Volunteer State Community College hosted Dead Poets Open Mic at the Steinhauer-Rogan-Black Humanities Building on Oct. 31.
This open-mic reading took place at the SRB Performing Arts Studio and lasted from 12:45-2:00 p.m., and was hosted by Sigma Kappa Delta (SKD).
Many students, faculty and staff were offered to participate in this open-mic by reading poems during the event.
The Dead Poets Open Mic started with student Ethan Gorham who read “Ozymandias” by Percy Shelly.
Next, freshman and English major Sarah Cox read through Christina Rossetti’s “Remember.” After that, Pre-Medical Profession major Camille Cole read a poem called “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou.
I even got to participate in this event by reading Henry Vaughan’s “They Are All Gone into The World of Light.” I decided to read that poem because I loved the words from this poem.
After that poem, student Morgan Seay read through Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night.” Next, Leslie LaChance, Associate Professor of English, read a couple of poems from John Keats called “This Living Hand” and “When I Have Fears.”
Laura Mcclister, Instructor of English, then read “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath.
Next, English Instructor Julia Cawthon read an excerpt from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet called “To be or not to be.”
Also, Kelly Sleeper, Vice President of Sigma Kappa Delta, read Robert Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover,” and Sigma Kappa Delta President Gaynell Payne read Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado.” After those poems, Cox read “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou.
Next, sophomore John Beutkeucius read “Matilda” by Hilaire Belloc, and Jerushah Blackburn read “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe.
Mickey Hall, Professor of English, then read Billy Collins’ “The Dead,” and McClister read W.H. Hauden’s “Funeral Blues.” Afterwards, Beutkeucius read through “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll.
Also, student Kristin Meeks read a brief quote from Samuel Taylor Coolidge, “Sir, I admit your general rule, that every poet is a fool, But you yourself may serve to show it, That every fool is not a poet.”
Finally, Payne read through a brief excerpt from “Premature Burial” by Edgar Allan Poe to close out the Dead Poets Open Mic.
Overall, I thought the Dead Poets Open Mic was a great event.
I really enjoyed most of the poems in the open-mic reading, especially those LaChance read from John Keats as well as McClister, who read one from Sylvia Plath, which I thought went well and related to the spirit of Halloween.
LaChance said that the Dead Poets Open Mic was a well-attended and fun event. LaChance also said she was very impressed by the variety of poems the students chose to read.
“I was very pleased with the turn out and the participation,” said Mcclister. “Most of the literary works that were read reflected the fall season, which really added to the ambience of the room.”