There’s no easy road to becoming the United States’ first Youth Poet Laureate. But, through perseverance, writing each day, determination to conquer her fear of hitting the stage, Amanda Gorman earned national recognition for her excellence in the genre. In our interview with Amanda, her advice to the Write the World community was to, “send in your videos, send in your writing, and just go for it and don’t hold yourself back.” Amanda’s can-do attitude certainly resonated with many of you, evidenced by the beautiful submissions for this month’s Poetry and Spoken Word Competition. Today, we’re pleased to share Amanda’s picks for Best Entry, Best Peer Review and Best Performance of a Poem.
From Amanda:
BEST POEM
“Graceful Descent” by gayatrirajan
For top poem, I selected ‘Graceful Descent’ by gayatrirajan. I was blown away by this poem on several levels—it’s structure, economy of language, and vivid imagery, which work together to construct a coherent whole. For example, take the opening line: “I envy the engineering of birds”. What a succinct, truthful, and specific statement. However, gayatrirajan doesn’t stop there—she SHOWS me the engineering of birds, the ability to “glide on perfect wax wings, gaining distance from my heritage. The genesis of otherness/ the origin of tribe, is not a family tree”. The unique way in which gayatrirajan approaches the physics of flight and birds as a proxy for interrogating a near-antagonistic dimension of history, heritage, and language, is stunning, especially when coupled with breath-taking imagery. We don’t need to aspire to be the same exact poet as gayatrirajan, but as poets we should aspire to touch our audience, to compel them to revisit pre-held beliefs and understandings, perhaps through the beauty or pain pulsing through the world, and that is exactly what this piece accomplishes. Congratulations, gayatrirajan!
BEST PEER REVIEW
amelia18’s review of “The Heart of the Poet”
For top peer review, I selected amelia18’s review of “The Heart of the Poet”. Amelia18 demonstrates the critical qualities of a helpful reviewer: being able to quickly articulate the strengths of a piece, specific options to enhance those pre-existing strengths, and also particular strategies in addressing the poem’s potential shortcomings. Amelia18 makes sure that the author knows not only what aspects she liked about the poem, but WHY, which is an incredibly helpful reflection for an author to hear. For example, the peer reviewer mentions that her favorite line is “her heart was that of a poet”, as well as the reasoning behind that choice. Yet Amelia18 takes this commentary even further by inquiring: “Why did you choose “was” that of a poet? Would present tense be more impactful?” There are numerous moments like this throughout the review, reminding us how helpful it is as an author to hear from a constructive reviewer who can speak on the strengths and opportunities represented in a piece of poetry. Great job, Amelia18!
BEST PERFORMANCE OF A POEM
“木漏れ日” by Esh
For top spoken word performance/poem, I selected 木漏れ日 by Esh. I loved not only the poem, but also the performance, the communication and the content. 木漏れ日 strings a powerful narrative of love and loss, rejection and technological estrangement, revisiting imagery rooted in the body and nature. There are wonderful lines, such as “smile that smile of yours / And melt the ice in me again?” or “I cherish the moments we pretend to try”. However, Esh’s performance is just as beautiful—there is a real, confident rhythm to the vocal performance of the poem, which casts its own spell on the audience. The poem is performed in a way almost akin to a song, with lyrical undercurrents and recurring phrases, so that by the end we feel we are hearing the last heartbroken chorus of a poignant song. It is this blending of both emotionally gripping poetic language, and a self-assured performance with its own style and flare, which made this such a phenomenal entry. Way to go, Esh!
This month’s competition is presented in partnership with Mass Poetry. Mass Poetry, located in Massachusetts, US, works to bring poetry to readers of all ages and to transform people’s lives through inspiring verse.
