What is poetry?
It’s “language at its most distilled and most powerful,” according to poet Rita Dove.
For novelist Alice Walker, “Poetry is the lifeblood of rebellion, revolution, and the raising of consciousness.”
And legendary Canadian author Margaret Atwood says, “I don’t think I solve problems in my poetry; I think I uncover the problems.”
In their study of contemporary novel Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, which is written in verse, Grade 9 Huntsville High School (HHS) students were asked by their teacher, Jennifer Rosewarne, to match the style and tone of one of his poems using content of their own.
In Reynolds’ own words, “Poetry has the ability to create entire moments with just a few choice words.”
The three HHS students—Bronwyn McColl, Jooniper Hill, and Ty Budreau—whose poems we’ve shared below make wise use of their own few choice words.
By Bronwyn McColl
BEAR’S REAL NAME
Was Daron.
Not very often was he Bear.
I gave him that name when I was little. I couldn’t tell ya why.
He’s my big brother.
11 years older than me.
Everyone says he’s an old soul, but I’ve always just seen him as old.
BEAR WAS TWO-SIDED
Two different people all in one.
My older protective brother
who’d make sure everyone I was around only made me smile.
and
The older brother all my friends knew for giving us rides into town at strange
hours in the
night.
He was the best friend who helped me out of trouble, but he was also the reason I was in trouble.
He would lecture us for hours about how smoking kills you, in between sips of his beer.
PEOPLE ALWAYS SAID
He’d never be anything.
He didn’t like school.
But now he’s got a master degree
for music composition.
He’s taught in Toronto and
Ottawa.
And I’m proud to say Bear did become something
I always knew he would.
Even though he didn’t have the best hand of cards
he did a damn good job playing them.
Bronwyn McColl
By Jooniper Hill
DYLAN’S GIVEN NAME
Was forgotten.
I heard it once, maybe twice.
Not that it
Matters.
Dylan is what
They go by.
A name they
Gave themself.
A word for
Who they are.
A sound for
How they feel.
And there is nothing wrong
with that.
DYLAN IS TWO SIDED
Two faces where there
Should be one.
One they show in public:
A passionate believer,
A fighter for rights,
A imaginative human,
Not scared of who they are,
Not afraid to help.
The second I glimpse through the first:
Unhappy with the world,
Scared by the unknown,
Scarred by words,
More than sticks and stones
PEOPLE ALWAYS SAID
Words shouldn’t hurt
And that it’s violence we should fear.
But I know that Dylan
Is hurt by words.
Words like to dig under their skin
tainting blood and mind alike.
Sometimes I wish there
Were words I could speak.
Words to heal hidden scars
Inside and out,
in an instant.
Jooniper Hill
By Ty Budreau
CLEO’S REAL NAME
was Harley.
only ever heard from her teachers
and her parents.
Cleo is better
than Harley,
a nickname given to
her myself
all because of a silly
Inside joke.
Simple,
yet so complicated
that I couldn’t explain.
CLEO WAS TWO SIDED.
Two personalities,
one happy and loving and
the other, sad and empty.
Happy and loving:
Nightly facetime calls,
Talking about our days,
Venting about life’s problems,
And planning future vacations with our friends.
But also:
Quiet, depressed,
Not answering her phone
for days,
and suffering in silence
I HAVE ALWAYS SAID
That she was the happiest girl
I’ve ever met,
but that she was brought up
In the wrong house
Because of the monsters
clawing at her door.
They can make it harder for
her to see herself,
the way that I do.
Ty Budreau
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To me, “Poetry” seems like it is one of the lost arts not readily used anymore..?..
Something I took in school and enjoyed reading throughout life. There are many “types”.
This chosen “style” to follow, allowed me to hear.. “very open and honest words”… expressing and exposing emotions, the heart, perceptions and truths.. challenging the facades in life or masks we wear in life even! We all do at times.. every human being! We really never “Bear/bare” our “true self” fully to those around us at times, nor what is really going on in our lives… let alone expose ourselves fully to the world!
But “These Writings” gave us a glimpse!!
I think it took great “Courage” to write such honest , raw, and vulnerable words!
Words that exposed much.. if you, as the reader were really listening! to them…?…
{and not just forming your own thoughts, opinions or critiquing the words put forth}
I purposefully read each poem, over and over… hearing the depth and layers hidden inside chosen words!
It did challenge and expose areas.. bringing problems to the light! It was as enlightening as the author being used as the example! It’s “style”, I say -was similar to writing out “Blurts from the depth of the hidden soul”. From there.. words paint a picture that is more true and pure of humanity!
Each one of these poems did that!! for me…
Thank You for Your Expressions of heart and soul. Your Candid Honesty of those Expressions! For challenging me with them.. it’s like you are entrusting words/poetry.. to cause an awareness within the reader… to look beyond.. and into.. and what we do from that point is up to us…
To All of You- Thank You – for taking up this challenge, writing words of your own in honesty, AND “Courageously sharing them” with the public to read! Thank You for your Gifts and Talents of Expression using Poetry… that itself can be a challenge!