Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Tell the World Writerscorps


Tell the World: Teen Poems from Writerscorps- Writerscorps This is a collection of poems by teens who have taken part in workshops run by Writercorps. Writercorps was founded in 1994, in San Francisco, CA, Washington D.C. and Bronx, NY http://www.sfartscommission.org/WC/about-writerscorp/ . There goal is to transforms the lives of children with words. Tell the World is the third collection of poems by teens put out by Writercorps. Though I loved and was touched by this collection, I wish could say I had heard of WriterCorps before now. Tell the World is broken up into six sections. Who We ARE, Where We're From,What We Love,What We Think, How It Feels, Why We Hope. The poets range between 12-18. I had to resist the urge to share one from each section. I narrowed it down to three. The first two are excerpts, so you'll have to buy the book for the full poem


Tell The World Who We Are
Tea Cake (an excerpt)
i'm like a modern-day Tea Cake
my mom named me Michael Newby
but i'm better known as Prince Akzionz
smooth with his words as i am in composition
to top it all off both of us are musicians
live my life for the moment no set goals or missions the whole world
hip hop complex young guys with free spirits
don't turn away from nothing we accept it as it happens
life on improv like freestyle rappin
or freestyle actin
but it's all reality no dvd on pause
the perfect man for Janey even in my flaws
by Michael Newby, 17

Tell the World What We Love
Rules Are Simply (an excerpt)
rules are simply broken locks on open doors meant to
be ignored
written in a text that is easily erased and replaced
let's work thru those doors into a hidden world
of temporary ecstasy that envelopes every dream
and desire we've never had the chance to achieve
let's taste the sweetness of the "should nots" and
"don't you evers" as we fulfill them
rules are simply ideas created by bland minds
that crave a softer touch than I possess
by Liana Castro, 17

Tell the World Why We Hope
Anger & Poetry
Anger is like breaking
all the plates
and ripping out
the windows.
Poetry is like seeing
the whole world
by Alma Garcia, 12


Some teens may think poetry is for yesterday or someone else. This collection will change there minds. There is no pressure, no lines to analyze, they can simply pick a poem at will. Tell the World may inspire a few teens to pick up a pen. If nothing else they will at least know its an option.

Tell The World will be released Oct. 14

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