2008 Woodie Awards
Local Poet Tom Reynolds Visits Campus
Emily Loughary
Issue date: 5/6/08 Section: News
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Inspiration for Reynolds's poems has always come from poets like Robert Frost. He appreciates poems that are set in specific locations because it parallels to his poetry. Reynolds centers his poems in Kansas locations because it's the place that he knows best; the place he grew up as a child.
Knowing that Reynolds is a Kansas native influences people in different ways.
"To have someone make a name for themselves that you may know or can relate to often leads to motivation or inspiration. I know that for me, I admire anyone like Reynolds that has that sort of patience to pursue a literary career," Rebecca Loe, junior, said.
"The Book of Stones," one section in "Ghost Town Almanac" contains poems written about the fossils, rocks and stones of Kansas.
"All of these small objects [fossils and rocks] are so important to the history of Kansas because they have the potential to provide answers," Reynolds said.
Then again, not all rocks have significance. Reynolds's daughter was the inspiration for the poem "Skippy the Wonder Rock."
"One day while going for a walk my daughter picked up this "special" rock. She took it home with us and had me put it on my desk. After every couple of days I'd take it away hoping she wouldn't notice - but she always did. Finally I gave up the fight and decided to write a poem about my relationship that we had created over time. Now don't think I'm crazy. I didn't really name the rock but used Skippy for the sake of the poem," Reynolds said.
Junior Jami Deghand attended the reading although she didn't know much about Tom Reynolds. She's always been a fan of poetry and has a curiosity to learn about new styles she may be unaware of.
"I'm a fan of poems with an apparent rhyming structure so it was good to branch out and listen to Reynolds's poems which contained more imagery. He gave me a lot of inspiration because he's a local, known poet. Obviously, he's got to be doing something right," Deghand said.
Reynolds stated that poetry is a type of literature that everyone should indulge in. It puts people in touch themselves and their emotions; it is a genre completely separate from fiction.
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