The language of poetry is made up of lyricism and rhythm, something that Dr. Mag Gabbert, currently serving as the Poet Laureate for the city of Dallas, teaches students in her presentation for the 30th annual Highland Park literary festival.

For LitFest, the SMU professor brought three poems to demonstrate the use of deep, metaphorical language to represent the abstract. The “abstract,” as Gabbert describes, is something that is intangible and out of reach. In poetry, abstract words are sensations and feelings that may be viewed differently by one person to another.

In this lesson Dr. Gabbert challenges the high school students to not only view abstract words in a new way but to dive deeper into their five senses to find examples to better describe them. Gabbert asks first what students would “measure” their feelings with, her happiness being measured by how far away her dog is. She also asks how different abstract words would be represented. For example, the word “fancy” was described by the taste of caviar and the sound of clicking heels against the floor.

In an exciting interactive portion, students wrote examples of their own poetry with what they took away from the presentation. Some students wrote about topics such as the passing of time, and excitement. There were comparisons to different sensations like riding a bike, the taste of sugar, and scenic views, all of which combined into larger feelings.

This lesson not only helped me better articulate my internal thoughts but also brought me a better understanding of how to broaden my language when it comes to writing poetry. Dr. Gabbert encouraged me and my fellow students to pay attention more to the world around us and how it can impact our perception of different feelings. I would recommend many people to read some of her works, and challenge themselves as she did us!