Kory Wells. Photo by Angel Pardue
Think poetry, and you’re likely to conjure up something vastly different from what the guy next to you does. Poetry, like so many other lovely things in life, comes in all different shapes, sizes and styles. While some might associate poetry with dead guys speaking Old English while donning ruffled collars, or with song lyrics that they sing along to (though they “don’t know what it means”), there are many different varieties and genres of poetry to be discovered, often times without the label of poetry ever even being ascribed.
Poets of old have much in common with modern poets, in that they experience the world around them with a kind of lucidity that others don’t seem to possess. Their vivid recollection of events and their meticulous attention to details (mixed with their ever-expanding vocabulary) facilitates a medium which connects them to an extensive array of readers who all seem to have lived through the exact same experiences, to some degree or another.
Kory Wells, a fellow Murfreesboro Pulse writer, is one such poet. Her newest book, Sugar Fix, takes readers on a journey in much the same way that a novel does. While her poems offer short narratives of insight into her world and ideas, she spares no expense in the richness of her descriptions and the melodies of her memoirs. Upon reading her work, it is clear that she understands the vibrance of expression that descriptive words employ, and she distributes them as liberally and as skillfully as Monet does hues.
Her masterpiece is not only in the eclectic way that she transitions tales of her own ideas and experiences, but in the discovery of ideas and themes that travel beyond her own narrative, incorporating stories that she’s derived from others in her life, and beyond. From an encounter she once witnessed long ago in the parking lot of a since-torn-down local Dairy Queen, to fill-in-the-blanks speculation of historically documented incidences from her ancestry, Wells offers a rare kind of presence, allowing us to be able to experience her stories with her as she shares them, and leaving us with a sense of wonderfully wanting more. It’s this “going along for the ride” feeling that allows us to lose ourselves to the pages of her passion.
Among the many delights in Sugar Fix, a few highlights include “Untold Story,” a poem about family and the strange things that stick out in our memories; seeing things through the eyes of a child; and remembering seemingly insignificant details that have somehow shaped us in significant ways.
“The Assistant Marshal Makes an Error in Judgment” shines light on the flippant attitudes and resulting negligence of insensitivity to cultural roots. And make room for “Questions from the Women for Dorothy, Wife of Richard Cantrell, Before the Grand Jury for Masking in Men’s Clothes and Dancing at Nine O’Clock at Night, 1703.” Scandalous times call for scandalous measures in this lighthearted and thought-provoking poem about a historical but poorly-documented occurrence which leaves just enough wiggle room to let the imagination run wild, and Wells takes full advantage.
Much like the energy that leaps from the stories of her book, Wells’ excitement for poetry leaps out in person, but she makes it clear that what she is more passionate about than anything, even more than her own poetry, is letting people know that there are so many different styles of poetry available to people. She reinforces this idea by analogizing it with music.
“I want to say, ‘Give this a try! So maybe you don’t like jazz. You might like blues. Maybe you don’t like country, but there’s rock!’” she explains. She loves the written word as an expression of art and wants other people to be as infectious about it as she is.
She has really put the rubber to the road, not only in publishing her poetry collection, but also in sponsoring its cultivation in our fair city. In addition to being a writer for the Pulse and a published poet, she is the founder of Poetry in the Boro—a gathering of local poets who come together, share their work and support each other. This forum is open to all who’d like to come and listen to other poets’ work, as well as share their own through the open mic portion, which is available at the end of the monthly meetings. This month, Wells will be the featured poet at Poetry in the Boro and will discuss her book and other topics with fellow poet and co-curator Amie Whittemore.
The event is free and open to the public. It meets at the Walnut House in Murfreesboro at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10. Please come out and support this wonderfully talented lady! Refreshments will be served. All poets, poet lovers, wordsmiths, readers, writers and anyone else are welcome.
Purchase Sugar Fix and find more information on Kory Wells at Sugar Fix at korywells.com.
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Still Won’t Marry (excerpt)
from Sugar Fix
by Kory Wells
That man’s professed his love for me for years,
But candy’s all he’s good for, sticky paper
bag each each time he comes. Like I don’t labor
over food all day, flour dust in every breath,
kneading dough ’til my sore knuckles swell.
He says a little taste of sugar will cure
my weary back, my aching shoulders, my
singed arms. Like I don’t know what a man wants.
