Madeline Rose’s poetry does not stay static on the page-it transforms with the reading. She often presents her work to live audiences at Poetry Society of Vermont readings, experience that allows her words to breathe in a different way. The motions of her voice, pauses between lines, and the inflections chosen create nuanced understanding for the listener. What is seemingly quiet on the page becomes highly alive in performance, calling audiences to experience the emotions in real time.

The good thing is that they are communal: Poetry readings turn an isolated, contemplative experience into a shared one. The silence in the room syncs with the poem’s rhythm, while moments of connectedness are punctuated by laughter or applause. The immediacy that audience reactions lend to writing would be impossible in print. Rose’s friendly manner makes her readings seem more like a conversation rather than a recitation, as if she were speaking to each listener personally.

Recitation does inform that poetry has always had a performative dimension; it is, in fact, an art passed down through memory into the handwriting of one’s self. Rose might keep the tradition alive by creating space for people to gather, put in a listening-paired activity at the end of, and then reflect and reflect again on what they just heard. In the end, it’s a kind of literary closeness that builds community and strengthens ties, poet and audience alike.