Christopher Wirth quietly stepped up to the stage with his Emily Dickinson “Wild Nights, Wild Nights” poem in hand. He walked to the podium, set the poem down, took a deep breath and a step back. Unpredictably, he bursted forth with his dramatization of the poem:

Wild nights! Wild nights!

Were I with thee,

Wild nights should be

Our luxury!

Futile the winds

To a heart in port,

Done with the compass,

Done with the chart.

Rowing in Eden!

Ah! the sea!

Might I but moor

To-night in thee!

He projected himself out into the crowd passionately reciting the already passionate poem.

Students, faculty, and staff alike were awestruck by the performance Wirth gave. The faculty was so amazed that they were still talking about it during their meeting afterwards.

Students and faculty filled the fireside lounge, coming and going in waves with each hour, during the Reading & Writing Women event held on March 26.

The event entailed readings from both the students, faculty members, and Bucks County Poet Laureate, Corie Feiner.

Feiner began by answering the question:

What is a Poet Laureate?

“The poet laureate writes the poems for the county when asked and visits the schools and attends other events when asked” she said. Feiner admitted to knowing little about nature since she grew up in New York but said she knew plenty about trains which inspired her poem “Subway Pastoral”. “Memorize your poems so they can’t see your shaking hands” Feiner advised the audience.

Feiner’s poems were powerful. “She has meaning to her poems and you get a sense of where she came from and her background” said Rachel Buck, 20 of Ottsville a liberal arts major.

There were a variety of poems that were read in different languages, Spanish, Romanian and others expressing the beauty of words in poetry.

The most popular poet among the student readers was Emily Dickinson, although no two poems were repeated.

One of the students read a poem written by his mother called “I don’t know your name.” It was an American poem thanking our military graciously for all that they do.

Ed MacDonald recited lyrics to the Bonnie Raitt song “Something to Talk About” ending with a very elongated stare which followed the lyrics “stare just a little too long”, then ending with the words “let’s give them something to talk about” which drew laughs from the audience.

The readings were eclectic consisting of poems that were from the 18th century, funny, sensory driven, emotional, tributes to lost loved ones, and nature inspired.

Associate Professor, Michelle Pentimall’s Acting II class gave a performance from the play “Whistleblower” written by professor Pentimall, which was inspired by real life events of Marsha Coleman, a MIT-trained African- development expert, who was one of two black employees in a mostly white male company. She is a woman who faced racism and sexism and didn’t back down from it.

A group of six students read excerpts from Phyllis Wheatley, America’s first black woman poet, well known for her poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America.”

The group that followed of three students read two poems by Sarah Wentworth Morton, who is known for her poetry about virtues of freedom. The readers switched off with each other for each stanza, one of the readers reciting in a high pitched voice which captured the attention of the audience and created a stir of laughter.

Changing things up a bit, one of the students read a speech by Princess Diana on eating disorders, getting her message across to the audience.

“I loved the poems that were in different languages” said Buck. “Alaska was my favorite.”

“The readings are interesting and fascinating” said Neil Hafner, 19 of Feasterville, liberal arts major. Hafner and Buck both also participated in the readings.

Poems written about mothers and grandmothers took over the end of the readings. Just in time to make for a great Mother’s Day gift.