A voice as sweet as sugar and a tone as warm as your favorite cup of tea. Poet Kasey Jueds is a soft spoken and bright woman who spent over ten years compiling her first book “Keeper,” a publication of poetry relating back to her childhood, and winner of the 2012 Agnes Lynch Starrett poetry prize. Jueds' poetry reading took place at the University Center on Sept. 25. Her poetry painted a vibrant picture in the audience’s heads throughout the reading, from descriptions of her red bike and blue bird house to the feeling of a secondhand dress she used to wear. Between poems, she shared detailed reasons as to why she wrote that specific poem. She also added a small fact or a quick comment to bring the poem to life. Jueds describes her poetry stanza as old fashioned and “Keeper” itself has no specific theme.Jueds was born in south Florida where she spent most of her childhood. She said the driving force behind her writing are the memories from when she was younger. She opened with a poem called “To Swim:”
“Dear water, I loved you best
back then--my upside-down
house, kinder than sidewalks
or too-high branches, the bent red bike
that tipped me to the street.”
Jueds’ inspiration for “To Swim” came from her mom wanting her to take swimming lessons because, in Florida, water is everywhere. Learning to swim is a moment in life the majority of people can relate to. “Her poems remind me of my childhood,” said UNC student Katherine Fasbender. According to Jueds, this specific poem causes readers to think of their own future and the feelings they’ll have when their own children are learning to swim.
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