"Hi Story"

History - "Hi Story" - is full of stories about people, events, and places. One of the major ways people learn the stories of previous times is through reading literature. I enjoy, maybe we could even use the word love, reading a variety of books and genres. But there is one exception to that, poetry. I think of poetry as an acquired taste. It's a style of writing that if experienced multiple times can grow on a person, but initially it's not always appreciated and rarely understood. That's been my personal history with poetry, not always appreciated and rarely understood.

I first paused to take a close look at poetry in ENG 113 when Maurice Manning was the visiting author that semester at CVCC. It was then I read through his book of poetry, Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions. I also attended his reading session and listened as he answered questions. Through that I felt more of a personal connection with his poetry and I still pick his book up every now and then. Each time that I do, I feel like I understand a little more clearly what he was conveying. I may be completely off track, but at least I'm making an attempt!

I haven't taken an in-depth look at Ron Rash's Eureka Mill yet, but I anticipate that this project will open my eyes a little wider to the world of poetry and once again, my history of poetry will be changed. Maybe, just maybe, I will begin to understand poetry.