"For Crying Out Loud ! - Three Selected Poems"
Ameenah McKiethen
Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation
College: College of Liberal Arts
Major: BA.ENGLISH
Faculty Research Mentor: Abriana Jette
Abstract:
Title: “For Crying Out Loud! - Three Selected Poems”
Author: Ameenah McKiethen
“For Crying Out Loud!” is my manuscript of selected poems written about my experiences as an Afro-Latina who often felt disconnected from parts of her heritage while coming of age. The poems explore a complicated relationship with the island of Puerto Rico, the experience of growing up with a single mother, and grief for people who are still living, yet I am unlikely to ever see again.
The three poems I have selected to share at Research Days feel particularly important because I wrote them at times when I felt the most disconnected from my identity. Each poem takes readers and listeners to a different corner of my reality: exile, isolation, and anxiety. However, what lives at the heart of these poems, despite the severity of such emotions, is love. Love for those who sacrificed for me, love for art, and love for what our planet has to offer. The desire to share this love with others is what drove these poems to creation.
My goal is to illuminate experiences that young women like me have but rarely get to share because we aren’t often listened to. I want to give our Kean community the opportunity to sink into my unique perspective just as easily as hearing a beloved song. By sharing my poetry with our community, I am telling everyone that they are not alone. Even your heaviest emotion can be written down and transformed into beauty.