BluestoneReview

You taught us to carry a poem in our pocket By Emily Dawn Cook

for Dr. Merritt At first, we only attended poetry readings for the extra credit. We drove to Windhorse, to Concord, to the RiffRaff on Mercer Street— Anywhere that hosted open mics and additional points on our lowest test grades. We read terrible poems that didn’t make sense And read good poems terribly because we were scared behind a mic. Who wants to stand in front of strangers and bare the most vulnerable pieces? You encouraged. You pushed. You bribed. You succeeded. We succeeded. We found voices that sounded like ours but stronger. The words we whispered in SCI 103 Safely gained momentum and echoed to audiences The words we didn’t know we had to say to feel whole. That the poem in our pocket would transform into the poem on our lips and Heal us Untitled Letter From Cedric Brown When I think about my academic journey at Bluefield College, there are a few classes and professors that stick out even after 18 years. One professor who always comes to mind is Dr. Merritt. He was one of the most challenging professors that I had while attending Bluefield College and continuously pushed me out of my comfort zones in order to get the best from me. I was “that guy.” I thought I knew everything and had it all figured out. Dr. Merritt would look at me, shake his head, and certainly think, “This guy has NO idea.” But, in Dr. Merritt fashion, he didn’t give up on me, and even to this day his influence is still there. When I joined the Bluestone Review, admittedly, I did it because I had to in order to graduate. What I didn’t anticipate is how much I en -

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