By Julia Train
The Somers Point Arts Commission named their new poet laureate in December 2023. Sarah Fertsch, 28, from Egg Harbor Township was chosen for the two-year position out of three applicants.
Most of those on the nine-member board already knew Fertsch from participating in Poetry in the Park, writing for Shore Local and being involved with the Somers Point Poetry Society.
Established in 2017 by the Somers Point Arts Commission and the City Council, Fertsch is the third to hold the title.
She will be teaching poetry through the lens of poetry slams, combining rhetoric and spoken word as an art form to 7th and 8th graders at Jordan Road in Somers Point.
There will be a poetry contest at the end, and the winners will be able to read their poems at a Somers Point City Council meeting.
“Her writing isn’t super basic. It has some complexities to it but it’s not so complex that people can’t identify with it,” said Dan Myers, president of the Somers Point Arts Commission. “We were impressed with her in every way.”
Myers said that when the commission was searching for the one to fill the spot, they were looking for whoever fits best into their goals of education, whoever would be effective with educating the public on the arts.
They also wanted someone who has had their work published, could teach art and knew the area.
Fertsch had been writing poetry since high school, but college is when she really dove into it. She found online groups and started getting involved in the Somers Point Poetry Society in 2020.
“I was very much that high schooler who would feel angsty and write poetry under my bed,” said Fertsch.
She’s been published in The Sun Magazine, with a piece on school uniforms; This Is My Brave as part of a literary compilation on mental health; and Blue Stoop, a Philadelphia-based writing organization.
Fertsch submitted three pieces with her application, one of which was titled, “Force of Nature,” which was inspired by her middle school soccer coach, who often told her to be a “force of nature.”
In the poem, she questions the saying, stating, “is a force of nature not soft silky moss…calm waves…” She wonders why a force of nature is often seen as aggressive when she sees nature as kind and calm.
Nature is a topic she writes about often in long form, discussing her relationships with nature, similarly to Mary Oliver. She uses nature and natural imagery to convey a deeper meaning, typically reflecting on relationships and growing up near the southern New Jersey shore.
Fertsch mentions that she likes poetry because every word needs to convey more than one meaning and there’s room for a wide use of symbolism and oxymorons.
In addition to reflecting on her relationship with nature, she also reflects on growing up by the shore in her poems. She noted that poetry is either a window or mirror: a window that looks at another world/perspective or a mirror to show us a different reflection of ourselves and understand more about oneself.
“I like poetry because it’s the espresso of creative writing. It’s really condensed and every word matters,” said Fertsch
A Force of Nature
By Sarah Fertsch
Be a force of nature, they told me
Encouraging the middle school athlete to defend
The soccer goal with all of my might
Toughen up, scare the competitor, never admit defeat
A force of nature, I wonder
Refers to a hurricane raging
Or a lion sinking claws into a gazelle
Or a praying mantis eating her mate
What about moss, unassuming velvet
Softer than any hide or man-made blanket
What about sunlight, the slow
Tilt of flowers toward its golden beams
What about the kindness of a shrimp
Who carves out a burrow in the coral
And invites a goby as a roommate
Sleeping together every single night
When a wave crashes on the shore,
It’s not often thunderous.
Water laps the shore like a dog’s kisses
It purrs as it ebbs and flows
Be a force of nature, they told me
So I sat in the middle of the soccer field
And cradled the spears of grass
Like the lake that slides off a duck’s feathers,
Like the sweet reunion of humans in love,
I thank Mother nature for Her
mild temper.
Julia is a student at Rider University, majoring in multiplatform journalism with a minor in social media strategies. At school, she writes and is news editor for The Rider News and is the News Director for the radio station, producing news updates. She’ll be graduating in the spring. Connect with her on Instagram @juliatrain
