On Saturday, May 4, students from our Writing the Community program will read at the Poetry Center to celebrate the launch of our K-5th and 6-12th grade anthologies, Yo Soy the Sound of the Blue Ocean and Today I Will Shine. To offer a taste of what the day will entail, as well as the incredible poetry contained within each anthology, we thought we'd share our introductions with you. 

Wren Awry's introduction to Yo Soy the Sound of the Blue Ocean, a K-5 anthology:

The Poetry Center’s K-12 Education Department has been thinking a lot about gratitude lately. Last summer, we welcomed a new co-coordinator, Gema Ornelas, who came to us from Ben Bell’s and brought with her a commitment to the transformative possibilities of kindness. On our blog, poet and educator Logan Phillips wrote about a high school workshop he facilitated called Thanks Be to All Things, citing scientific articles that connect practices of appreciation to improved mental health and well-being. And in Writing the Community’s K-5 workshops, our teaching artists have asked young writers to identify what they appreciate, and to turn those moments of thankfulness into poems.

The results are wonderful. “I am grateful when Alejandro lifted me up when I fell,” one student writes in a class poem, while another adds, “I am grateful for the mountains because without mountains the water would go up and flood America.” Francisco Moreno ends a poem to a color swatch named “Made of Steel” by saying, “Thanks for helping me break a sweat writing this poem.” Luckaz Emiliano Valenzuela writes, “Desert tortoise / can I borrow your slowness / For I am speeding like a jackrabbit / to win the race of life,” acknowledging a quality that tortoises possess, and that many of us could use a little more of in our lives.

Then there are poems that move beyond gratitude to express what it means to care for others, from a beloved family member to threatened animals. Evannie Flores and Emily Bryant write an ode to a grandmother’s slippers that’s full of reverence: “My nana’s slippers / Are warm, fluffy, and cozy / Open, so her toes can breathe / So she can be comfortable / When she walks to take out the trash.” Surgio Figuero advocates for greater attention to non-human animals by writing, “I wish people didn’t make a bad environment for a panda. / I wonder why people are mean.” In both pieces, the poets’ concerns—that Nana’s slippers are cozy, and that panda bears have what they need to exist on a kinder earth—are born out of paying attention to the world around them, and valuing the people, places, and wild creatures that are part of that world.  

In a society where too many of us are quick to judge and jump to conclusions, the ability to observe and reflect--on both what is good and what can be improved--is crucial. As I read through the poems in Yo Soy the Sound of the Blue Ocean it becomes clear that poetry offers a vital space for thinking through complex issues and sharing viewpoints in the classroom. Our teaching artists do an incredible job creating containers where joyful, silly, imaginative, challenging, thought-provoking and expansive writing can be created. They enter classrooms facilitated by incredible teachers who are committed to their students and believe that literacy learning goes beyond teaching to standards and exams. And then, of course, there are the students themselves. Their creativity and intelligence is apparent on every page of this anthology, and their writing suggests that observation, thoughtfulness and gratitude are just part and parcel of how they live their lives. Their work brings to mind a line from Naomi Shihab Nye’s “Morning Poem,” about thirteen-year-old Palestinian journalist Janna Tamimi. “From her vantage point everything / is huge,” Nye writes, “But don’t look down on her / She’s bigger than you are.” These young writers feel bigger than I am, and as I read their poems I know they have so much to teach me. They give me great hope for the future they’re already hard at work creating.

Gema Ornela's introduction to Today I Will Shine, a 6-12 anthology:

The Dianne Bret Hart Matinee program at the University of Arizona Poetry Center pairs visiting writers with local schools. This year’s matinee program included poets Morgan Parker and Tommy Pico, who visited the freshman English class at City High School in September 2018.

Morgan Parker is the author of There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé, Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up at Night, and Magical Negro, a poetry collection. Tommy Pico, an indigenous poet originally from the Viejas Indian reservation of the Kumeyaay nation, is the author of books IRL, Nature Poem, and Junk. Together they co-curate the Poets with Attitude (PWA) reading series.

Both poets began the visit by reading, Parker from There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé, and Pico from Junk. Their poem selections and passages explored themes of struggle and triumph, identity and stereotypes, and declarations of self-love and self-awareness. Their performance and genuine excitement for one another’s poems stood out as a powerful demonstration of connectedness and community.

This exchange set the tone for the visit and helped reaffirm for the students that poetry is about exploration, humanity, and connection. When the floor was opened for questions, it became apparent that students were eager to share their own work with Pico and Parker. One by one, student volunteers read passages drawn from personal experience and performed with sincere, powerful vulnerability. Much like Parker and Pico, the students’ poems – juxtapositions of words and emotions – filled the classroom and left us all energized. This exchange of creative energy is a testament to how impactful writing programs in schools are and will continue to be.

Every fall and spring, the Poetry Center places writers in local classrooms to lead creative writing workshops via its K-12 education program, Writing the Community. These residencies enrich literary education in the classroom, promote a love of reading and writing, and help students find their voice. At the end of the programs, students’ poems and stories are published in an annual anthology. The students in this year’s anthology, Today I Will Shine, offer creative and playful explorations, challenging self-examinations, and incredible moments of triumph. Their voices demonstrate the power of language and its limitless possibilities.

Gema Ornelas and Wren Awry at the K-12 Education Coordinators at the UA Poetry Center.