Through the delivery of her melodic poetry, Arkansas Poet Laureate Suzanne Underwood Rhodes translated her experiences into inspiration. 

On Oct. 11, Rhodes commenced the inaugural Slant Visiting Poet Reading in the McCastlain Hall Fireplace Room, delving into several poems from her six books of poetry, the most recent of which was titled “Flying Yellow.”

Ty Hawkins, chair of the department of English at UCA, said the reading was the start of the new series jointly sponsored by the department of English and Slant, the department’s journal of contemporary poetry. 

Rhodes began with seasonal poems, the first being the titular poem from which her recent book got its name. 

“People ask me, ‘What is ‘Flying Yellow’?’” Rhodes said. “It’s kind of mysterious to me. It’s the idea that there are these glimpses that we occasionally get of something transcendent, something glittering and beautiful that comes to us unexpectedly at times when life might feel very stale and flat, or at times of loss or grief.”

“These bright glimpses and glances that we get don’t last. They can’t be grasped by logic, but the body knows. The body understands and has its own way of knowing,” Rhodes said. 

Michael Blanchard, the newly appointed editor of Slant, said the upcoming publication will include three poems from Rhodes. 

Blanchard said Rhodes was the perfect visiting poet for a student audience, not only because of her new position but because she loves teaching poetry as much as she loves writing it. 

Rhodes’ first project as Arkansas Poet Laureate, called “Yum’s the word,” was a poetry contest for home-schooled students. Next, she plans to bring poetry to children in public schools.

“Poetry, for me, was a way of finding another world,” Rhodes said. “So, that’s my heart when I think about reaching children and young people to be able to expose them to the playfulness of language. It’s just so much fun.”

Rhodes said, “I’m passionate about reaching the youth, especially with such a loss of language in our culture. Language is such an important part of our humanity. It is both rational and relational.”

Freshman Gracelyn Blankenship said, “It was very inspiring. I want to go home now and read her books.” 

Blankenship was not alone in this feeling, as many audience members lined up to purchase signed copies of Rhodes’ published poetry at the end of the event. 

Junior Faith Mott said, “Poetry means a connection between the world and emotion. It is the most concise and also vague way that people can convey emotion.”

Mott said that from hearing Rhodes’ poems, it was clear that she was well-lived.

 “She’s experienced a lot of things, and I thought it was cool how she was able to translate that into her poetry,” Mott said. 

Following her reading, Rhodes held a Q&A, where audience members asked a multitude of questions, including a question on her response to those who dislike poetry. 

“Well, that’s their bad,” Rhodes said among laughs from her audience, “I think it is because they don’t understand poetry or how to approach it.”

“The real pleasure of poetry is revision. There you are, searching for perfection, and you won’t settle for less. But, it’s also both private and lonely, it’s communal. You want to be able to scatter the coins and have others skip them, and hopefully, wake up something deep in a person — a desire and curiosity about the world. I think poetry satisfies that.”