(June 14, 2007) -- Amid the hush of dimmed cybrary lights, tables strewn with rose petals, and the intense anticipation of an audience of 75 people, Poetry Club President senior Armine Esackanian and junior Shant Hagopian approached the stage to recite Virginia Haefer Wark’s poem, “Our Season of Love,” in the eighth annual Poetry Night held May 9. To communicate the drama of an unfulfilled, yet hauntingly memorable affection, Esackanian and Hagopian started reading their poem standing back-to-back, but stepped farther and farther away from each other after reciting each bittersweet phrase.

Each student’s performance was intensified by similar gestures of emotion. Some chose a straightforward enactment of their poem, as was the case in junior George Balayan’s “Limited,” in which freshman Ani Bezirdzhyan played the role of the wife to whom he was restricted by societal standards from outwardly expressing his love.

The message of other poems, such as that of junior Sevada Minassian’s “Industrialization,” was heightened by subtleties in voice intonation and the unique positioning of their readers: Minassian read his parts leaning against a table in front of the audience while his partner, junior John Danho, read out loud from the back.

According to junior Gayane Vardoyan, who graced the audience with her guitar-playing of “Sarabande,” she and other Poetry Club members held three after school rehearsals in addition to practicing during their weekly enrichment meetings to prepare for this event. Poetry Club advisor Maral Guarino coordinated all student performances, incorporating the narration of both original and borrowed works, such as that of beat poet Charles Bukowski’s “So You Want To Be A Poet?”

Though understandably a daunting experience, the poetry recital proved to be rewarding. “I really wanted to inspire at least one person from the audience, and I hoped I would fulfill that goal,” junior Gayane Vardoyan said of her performance of “Sarabande.”

“I decided I would just go out there and put my heart and soul into the piece, not minding the audience or anyone else around me, but simply playing and creating music.”