The staircase and floor seats filled quickly at UVM’s Fleming Museum as students and residents waited eagerly to hear Nicole Sealey, The Painted Word poetry series’ most recent guest.

Sealey is a “poet of body and intellect,” event organizer and UVM English professor Major Jackson said. “[She is] integrating and celebrating the identity but not being bound by it.” 

Sealy read off several pieces of her work, slowly and with care for each word. At times, her poems generated a wave of laughter with humorous references.

“I found Nicole Sealey’s [poetry] unassuming. [Her] poignantly poetic style was refreshing and gripping,” sophomore Jake Tsacudakis said. “The atmosphere seemed spirited and outgoing, with the soft, playful buzz Sealey produced in reciting her poems.”

Sophomore Maggie Stryker quoted a favorite line from Sealey’s poem “Imagine,” “The sun could rise and fall like an ordinary beast.” 

“One thing that I noticed right away was her ability to take such simple words and give them so much meaning in an instant,” Stryker said. 

As Sealey flowed through each line, she held a connection with the audience. 

“There were never any pretenses, but an attempt to make sense of the little space she occupies in the world,” Tsacudakis said. 

“The intensity and realness of the emotions really let her pride and diversity shine through,” Stryker said. 

“I went into Fleming with friends to hear some poetry and I left with a sense of cultural experience.”  

The next event in the poetry series will be held Feb. 29 from 6 to 7 p.m. 

To obtain information for future poetry series, refer to the Fleming Museum’s event calendar on their website.