Poet Mary Moore spoke of light, endurance, dysfunctional families, and, of course, poetry during her reading in Colson Hall on Monday, March 20th. She read from her most recent books, Flicker (Broadkill River Press, 2016) and Eating the Light (Sable Books 2016).

Before reading, Moore spoke of poetry as a process of thought, a way to understand. “Poetry is the insight,” she said. She first read from Eating the Light, beginning with a poem about the old battleship, the HMS Victory. Other poems she read include “Colonizing Eyes,” “Woman Seated on Stairs,” and “At Second Sight,” which explored the Bay Area and described San Francisco as “squid-bodied.”

She also read from Flicker and insightfully described a flickering light as an illustration of both endurance and loss. These poems included several about family; Moore joked that most poets seem to come from dysfunctional ones. The reading concluded with two new poems not included in previous collections.

Moore’s poetry has been published recently in Georgia Review, Poem/Memoir/Story, Birmingham Poetry Review, One, Cider Press Review, McNeese Review, Canary, and Coal Hill Review. She has published a previous full-length collection, The Book of Snow. Her work is also featured in the recently released anthology of West Virginia writers, Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods (WVU Press, 2017). She previously taught poetry, Shakespeare, and writing at Marshall University.