It sits in the corner of Tucker Hall’s front entrance all by itself.
With unburned white candles leaning against the wall and pieces of yellow paper with hand-written messages thrown about, it leaves many to wonder what it represents. It is a memorial for the death of poetry.
The poem on the wall reads, “Write to save your life, So that I may have one, signed Poetry.” The memorial is a shrine to the expressive art that has gone unnoticed by some people.
Students walk past this memorial daily without taking notice.
Many have taken a glance and continued to walk past the marker, not really taking the time to examine it.
The memorial has been standing since students returned to ‘The Hill’ from Thanksgiving break.
“I thought it was a memorial for the journalism student who was killed,” said Kimberly Hardy, associate professor of theater arts.
“I’ve never seen it before,” said Kerri Shaw, a 22-year-old sophomore psychology student from Quincy.
Some students who have seen the shrine have used the yellow paper provided to express their artistic voice and write their own poetry about death, signing their name at the bottom of the paper.
“It’s an interesting idea,” Danielle Rollins said.
Rollins, a 20-year-old sophomore theater arts student from Miami, said the purpose for the memorial is to revive people’s interest in the arts.
“It was probably done by someone interested in the arts,” Rollins said.
“It’s a creative way to make a statement,” Hardy said.Nkechi Ikediobi, 21, a senior health care management student from Tallahassee, said she rarely goes into Tucker Hall but happened to stop by to talk with a professor. She had a unique way of interpreting the memorial’s meaning.
“This is actually my first time seeing it, but from the looks of it, it looks like it represents the everyday issues and problems college students go through,” Ikediobi said.
“When you first come to college you’re trying to find yourself, and this memorial serves as encouragement by telling you to bring all your dreams, hopes, fears, sadness and happiness here and become more in tune with yourself.”
She stared in amazement as she looked the memorial over.
“We know a college student’s life isn’t easy, so I think it’s a memorial to us,” Ikediobi said.
Lonnonell Nash, a sophomore 20-year-old engineering student from Philadelphia, is another student who rarely ventures into Tucker Hall. But for him the memorial isn’t new.
“I’ve seen memorials like this all the time, back home,” Nash said. “I think it’s trying to say a statement, spark ideas kind of in a way to give hope and reassurance that you’re not alone.” Nash said he probably never would have seen it if he weren’t meeting his friend after a class.
No one knows the true purpose of the monument or who is responsible for creating it.
Whoever did it, and whatever the cause is, he or she has stirred interest and curiosity about the unexplained memorial.