Poetry as a Compass: Sarah Kay Shares Journey with Words through Time and Place

“…Poetry has been a lot of things in my life. It is my hobby, it is my craft, it is my career, it is my community, and it has been my compass. It is the thing that I follow. And when I follow poetry, it is what has led me to all of these strange corners of the world where I have met people I would never have met if not for poetry.”

A published author and native New Yorker, Kay is the founder and co-director of Project VOICE, which works with schools to provide live poetry performances and in-person workshops to educate, entertain, and inspire. She previously participated in Foxcroft’s Poetry Festival virtually during COVID but was able to join the community in person for this year’s events.

Kay shared a selection of poems with the students, faculty, staff, and friends gathered in FoxHound for the second day of the Poetry Festival. She touched on themes of identity, growth, gender and sexuality, and relationships, including the devotion she feels to her friends, mirrored by what she witnessed the evening before at Foxcroft's Open Mic and Poetry Slam.

“I got a chance to be here last night. I was sneaky in the back, watching you perform poems, and I loved it. It was so beautiful to get to witness. And I was so impressed already with the ways and the moments in which you are already reaching for language.” She further explored one’s personal evolution with language over time. “…it's possible that the right words are maybe never there when you need them. Maybe that's part of the human experience, is reaching for language to describe how you feel or who you are, and not finding the words when you need them.”

As her visit to campus coincided with Valentine’s Day, Kay spoke about love poems, sharing anecdotes from her relationships before circling back to the theme of friendship. “Romance is fine, but the true loves of my life are, have been, will always be, my friends… I watched you guys cheer for each other last night, support each other, witness each other's poems, and root for each other. I just was like, yeah, that's it, that's it.” The strength of friendships formed at Foxcroft is evident even to those who visit campus only for a short time.

Before sharing the last poem of her reading, Kay reflected on when and how inspiration presents itself. “I am always delighted by the places that poetry can come from. Obviously, poems can come from a deep well of feeling. They can come from a conversation. They can come from another piece of art that inspired you. And also, sometimes, they can come from things that feel not poetic. They can come from a commercial. They can come from a TikTok. It can come from an ad or something you notice that seems like it shouldn't be deserving of poetry, and yet it must be deserving of poetry. And I love that too.”

Whether it is a murmuration of starlings, a table setting in a restaurant, the color orange captured through a camera lens, or an interaction with a friend, Sarah Kay reminds us that poetry is hidden all around us, just waiting to be discovered. “It is my job to keep my eyes open to the beauty that keeps showing up in front of me, so that when it is my turn, I can take that beauty and hold it up to the light for a moment, for as long as I have.”

Watch Sarah Kay's full performance here.