MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT

Mentorship Recipient: "Passing a Heifer on the Highway"

Recipient Reflection: 
Anna Girgenti

On "Passing a Heifer on the Highway" by Anna Girgenti

by ​​Ali Black

To begin, I’m in love with the pastoral so I was immediately attracted to Anna Girgenti’s “Passing a Heifer on the Highway.” The poem captures a beautiful moment between an unknown speaker and a heifer. Once Anna and I began the mentorship process, I asked her to think about strengthening her word choice and avoiding clichés. These were small changes, but they certainly make for a big impact in writing. I was beyond confident that Anna would flourish during the revision process simply because her original poem had so much promise.
 
Anna’s poem only called for one round of revision. Right out the gate, Anna cut unnecessary words and re-worked phrases that could be deemed as cliché. Upon reading the second version, I froze. It was as if I was reading the poem for the first time again. The speaker’s intimate moment with the heifer felt so rich and divine. I credit this to that “gold” and “shine” Anna sneaks into the poem.
 
And then Anna closes with a question for the speaker and the heifer. Or, is it a question for the reader? I love the way Anna makes us ponder. This poem’s scene and question will stay with me for a while. Thank you, Anna for sharing this moment with us!   

Ali Black
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Ali Black is a writer and youth advocate from Cleveland, Ohio.  She directs Sisterhood, a literacy based after-school and summer program for girls at West Side Community House. Ali is a current graduate student for poetry at the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts program and she is the poetry editor for Gordon Square Review. She is the recipient of the 2016 Academy of American Poets University & College Poetry Prize for her poem “Kinsman.” Her work has appeared in A Race Anthology: Dispatches and Artifacts From a Segregated City, december, The Rumpus, and jubilat.