Poetry Commons^™

Modern Obsequies, Elizabeth Davis

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Elizabeth Davis is a senior biochemistry major and Honor Scholar at DePauw university. Her hometown is North Liberty, Iowa, where her beloved cats Tracy and Vin live. She enjoys Brandon Sanderson novels, playing the guitar, and Dungeons and Dragons, but her greatest passion is theatre.

Kansas, Tatum Coi

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Tatum Coi is a junior majoring in English writing and film & media arts. She is an aspiring poet, novelist, screenwriter, and film director. She has written a poetry book that she has yet to publish, and is currently writing her first novel. She would like to thank Chris White.

Ode To Passed Poetry, Justus Morgan

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Justus Morgan (class of 2026) is a musician and writer from Bloomington, IN, and is pursuing an independent major in song. Between class, homework, and the practice rooms, you may find him questing after unfamiliar sounds, admiring campus squirrels, or imagining that he can play the banjo.

How Beautiful Are We, Abigail Fathauer

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Abigail Fathauer is a junior English literature major, with minors in world literature and art history. She also works as Editor-in-Chief of the DePauw and president of the English Department Student Association (EDSA). In her free time, Abigail enjoys reading, hammocking with friends, and working at the Humane Society.

Some Rhythm, Some Blues, Kapri Washington

Master's Projects

Although it might sound cliche, Dr. King was my childhood hero. Every year, my mom would rent Selma Lord, Selma for me from the library and I’d watch it in awe as if I’d never seen it before. Not only was I inspired by how Dr. King and several others led the Civil Rights Movement but, more so, by how he used words to pierce even the hardest of hearts. I’d entertain myself with thoughts such as, “I wonder if I could do that, change the world with words one day.” So, I began writing poetry.

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This project consists …

Leatherbound, Maya La Croix

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Maya S. La Croix is a Senior Political Science major, Honor Scholar, and Posse Scholar from New York. La Croix is deeply interested in activism and aspires to go into public service.

Dear Darling Death, Ira Satpathy

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Ira Satpathy is a Freshman from India. She hopes to pursue Politics and Philosophy. She enjoys doing art, writing poetry, and playing badminton. Ira is very interested in feminist philosophy and produces a bi-weekly podcast about intersectional feminism.

The Valley, Justine Vandenberg

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Justine Vandenberg is an Environmental Fellow student at DePauw University majoring in Sustainability Science and Environmental Studies. She is also a writer, poet, and photographer who is passionate about using artistic forms to advocate for the health of ecosystems and human communities. She finds beauty in hiking, gardening, and mountain life.

Take The Cherry From My Ice Cream, Cause You Know I Won't Eat It, Jenna Reynolds

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Jenna Reynolds is a Senior English Writing major. She has written for AMWR in the past and has also written for the Depauw stage (Romeo and Juliet at Bridgerton).

Olives, Ira Satpathy

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Ira Satpathy is a Freshman from India. She hopes to pursue Politics and Philosophy. She enjoys doing art, writing poetry, and playing badminton. Ira is very interested in feminist philosophy and produces a bi-weekly podcast about intersectional feminism.

Portrait Of The Church On Fire, Abigail Fathauer

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Abigail Fathauer is a Senior English Literature major with minors in Art History and World Literature. When she’s not writing papers or reading the next book on her TBR, she’s working at the local animal shelter and not shutting up about it. In another life, she was a medieval scribe.

Her Body Of Water, Anne Gregg

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Anne Gregg is a Senior English Writing major, Honor Scholar, and Media Fellow at DePauw. She is also the Editor-In-Chief of A Midwestern Review. Everytime Anne is anxious, her mother tells her to get a new hobby. Her new hobbies include: embroidery, deciphering cryptograms, and necromancy.

An Ode To My Brother, Ruby Tugeau

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Ruby Tugeau is a Freshman at DePauw majoring in Public Health and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies! She enjoys long hikes, oldies music, and warm soup. Ruby’s been writing all her life, and wants to thank A Midwestern Review for allowing her to share her work.

Sunday Morning, Leo Hamilton

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

Leo Hamilton is an Economics major and a Management Fellow at DePauw University. He is from Golden, Colorado and loves the landscapes of the west.

That's Life, John Menechino

Master's Projects

This capstone project is a collection of poetry, meant to showcase all of what I have learned about developing a strong writing collection during my time in the MAPW program. The collection covers a myriad of topics, but many of them detail the mundane things in life and the small joys they have. Some poems also detail heavy mental thoughts, and encourage self-reflection and deep thinking.

Experimental Forms And Identity Politics In 21st Century American Poetry, Ronnie Stephens

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

“Experimental Forms and Identity Politics in 21st Century American Poetry” explores the function of form in American poetry and its proximity to whiteness. Through an analysis of experimental and nontraditional forms I argue that poets Fatimah Asghar, Jericho Brown, Franny Choi, Natalie Diaz, Ilya Kaminsky, and Danez Smith challenge traditional notions of what a poem is; these authors use graphics and co-opt familiar text objects to challenge larger assumptions about gender identity, ableism, and the immigrant experience. These experimental forms are grounded in a larger poetic tradition that alters traditional forms, such as the sonnet, to disrupt and further dialogue …

The Cumulate Project: Creating Art That Builds Pathways Between Poetry And Accessibility In Public Spaces., Jenny Haddon

Posters, Proceedings, and Presentations: CTR Library

The University of Nebraska at Kearney( UNK) is completing an extensive renovation to the Calvin T. Ryan Library. Nebraska’s 1% for Art Law requires that 1% of all state-funded projects be set aside for a public art commission. The Nebraska Arts Council spearheaded UNK’s search and out of over 100 submissions the successful applicant was Leslie Iwai, an accomplished artist with a history of creating thought-provoking pieces in public spaces, galleries and museums. Together with Nebraska’s State Poet Matt Mason, serving as cumulate’s Poetry Curator, she designed and created an interdisciplinary art project aimed at sparking curiosity and interaction …

Flowers, Emily Grace Hartman

English Student Projects

This poem is about someone finally seeing the beauty and gathering peace before passing. We think of things that aren't beautiful and things that are painful, but we can also see the beauty in them, even if it feels too late.

My Soul, She Walks Behind Me, Sanyukta Shiv Kumar

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

This thesis reimagines the consequences of my great-grandmother’s life. It is an attempt to demystify women’s conditioned roles within private and public spaces and note how, through this conditioning, their identity is repressed to the point of diffidence and eventually, abhorrence towards their own bodies and the physical spaces they occupy. This is portrayed in poetry form through the voice of my great-grandmother as the primary speaker, and is interspersed with the voices of the grandmother, the mother, and the great-granddaughter.

My great-grandmother’s lived experience consisted mostly of her life as a young wife, mother, devotee, and storyteller. She told …

Yeats And Bagels, Joanne L. Detore

Publications

No abstract provided.

My Sister And Our Dandelion Dreams, Joanne L. Detore

Publications

No abstract provided.

Love In The Time Of Google, Joanne L. Detore

Publications

No abstract provided.

Burn The Sympathy, Gabino Noriega Iii

Regeneración: A Xicanacimiento Studies Journal

Poem

Curanderismo, Gabino Noriega Iii

Regeneración: A Xicanacimiento Studies Journal

N/A

Our Web, Alia Abdullah

be Still

Alia would like to acknowledge Ingmar Bergman's film, Through a Glass Darkly.

Theory Of A Well Mind, Joan S. Hyland

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

In psychiatry residency, we have a didactic within our curriculum that focuses on psychotherapy. This subject culminates in our third year when our program’s psychotherapy supervisor asks each of us to create our own personal theory. It allowed us to explore and apply what we had learned up until this point and formulate our own understanding of why people are the way that they are, how people change, and how to facilitate that growth through our theory. Each of us chose to represent our theory in unique ways, reflective of our personalities. One tech-savvy resident used AI and images. Another …

My Last Concussion, Shannon Valkr

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

MY LAST CONCUSSION is a thesis consisting of a critical introduction, a number of poetic influences, and a collection of poems. The introduction touches on the themes of the collection, my personal history with my subject, my changing approach to poetry, and a brief evaluation of the work as a whole. It details my approach to Catholicism, paganism, transgender identity, and oppression. My work grapples with both my current understanding of myself and my inability to enunciate my reality in the past. I aim to view divinity and personal history through a lens of queerness.

Advisor: Kwame Dawes

I Prayed For Flowers, Hannah See

NEXUS: The Liberty Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

No abstract provided.

Riding Shotgun: Authenticity And Discovery, James Washington Jr

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

The truth hurts.” So, my family said to me from my earliest comprehension. The poet’s fundamental ethic requires a commitment to authenticity, at the intersection of myriad creative possibilities. How to write poems about family, friends, and life experiences, mine included, through honest interrogation? Fortunately, empathy and truth are not mutually exclusive. When I began my thesis, my poems written during MALS enrollment were scattered, print and electronic. I could have saved myself plenty of time had I been a good curator. So said, there was an upside to gathering the strays. I was afforded the benefit of thematic discovery …

Reaping In The Dark, Rae Perez

Honors Projects

This project, reaping in the dark, aims to answer the question ‘How do we live in a world where we were never meant to survive?’ Surrounded by heinous war and deathmaking, violent vulnerabilities, and demands that our own bodies must be contributions in the machinations of killing and exploitation, I found myself simultaneously isolated by the devastation, and empowered by solidarity and care networks and coalitions being formed in real time. In particular, I take part in and document my grief and grieving, love and loving in response to the new cycles of escalating violence in Gaza, the …