"London, Paris, Amsterdam in May / We sway in the alleys in the warm rain," begins Billi MacTighe’s poem. "The Stars, The Stars / when spring turns cool air soft; Martha / and the Vandellas singing ‘Dancing’/ in the Street’ on repeat — an echo of your smile."
The love poem, which has 10 lines in its entirety, was written for Karla — someone MacTighe has never met.
All MacTighe knew about Karla were the details written on a slip of paper by her partner, a woman whom she only saw put the request in.
That is how the Poets for Hire event works — anyone who wants a poem writes a description of what they want the poem to be about and how many lines it would have.
The poets then get to work, weaving rhymes and rhythms from the details.
‘"It helped a lot that she gave me a lot of details about Karla," MacTighe said. "She wrote about the trip they took together and that Karla’s favorite band is Martha and the Vandellas."
Poets for Hire is an annual event hosted by the Writing Center since 2015.
This year, the event will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 13 and 14. It will be in front of the Writing Center, Robert Bell Building Room 295.
People can request a poem of up to 16 lines, with a suggested $1 donation for each line.
All the donations will go to the Muncie Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides shelter and care for homeless animals until they are adopted. There will also be craft supplies to make a Valentine’s Day card while waiting.
MacTighe, who is a second-year graduate student in creative writing, was instantly interested when the callout was posted for the event last year. Although MacTighe could only be there for one hour and just write "The Stars, The Stars," she had so much fun that she decided to participate again this year.
Bethany Stayer, an English graduate teaching assistant who is organizing the event, thinks one of the appeals for the commissioned poems lies in its originality.
"It’s not a poem you print off the internet, it’s not a poem written in a card that you can buy at a store," she said. "This is something that somebody from [the English] department, someone who either has a creative writing degree or is pursuing one, has written just for this occasion."
She thinks the fact that a donation is made for the poem also adds to its value.
The poems also do not necessarily have to be related to Valentine’s Day. Stayer recalled a commissioner from last year, who wanted a thank-you poem for their instructor.
"It could be to a parent, a professor, a best friend," Stayer said. "If you just wanna thank somebody for being a part of your life or for helping you, or just writing a poem to your best friend to say, ‘Hey, I appreciate you,’ then [the poets] will do that too."
So far, 13 poets have signed up for the event, which includes five faculty members, six graduate students and two undergraduate students from the English department.
For every hour, there will be either two to three poets at the station. The schedule showing the hours of each poet will be posted on the Facebook event page.
"I know the poets really make an effort to cater to what the person commissioning the poem wants," Stayer said. "So if they say this is for my mother, I want these many lines, I want to thank her for this, or there is something specific they want, the poets really work hard to fulfill [those] needs.’
For Karla, MacTighe’s effort manifested in these words, finishing out the poem:
"The gloaming light filters from the streetlamps; / velvet ochre, gentle flaxen glow. And you - / you twirling around parking meters, across cobble- / stones like a ballerina on glass. The stone floor / reflecting emerging stars along your skin."
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