Jinx Hampton: Hi, my name is Jinx. I go by they/them pronouns and am here at Springfield School of Innovation. We're in the writers club, and we do poetry mostly.
The Mask We Wear by Jinx Hampton
The mask we wear is thick with repairs
Layered on from all the times we've worn it
When we laugh too hard
And others look with disturbed eyes
Until we stop and patch it up
Returning to what should be ourselves
And when we show tears from emotions built up
And they ruin the colors layered
on the mask we've made
We look towards our peers
To help us take a moment
And breathe
Before repairing the mask with a tinge from the original
Our eyes open a bit too wide
And stretch out the holes
we've cut to see
Far too much
we see too much
it scares us half to death
when we see they've noticed
So we repair it
Enough not to let anybody see
who we truly are
For a long, long time.
We hide
Behind masks
Afraid of how others might see us
Not recognizing that
They
Might be wearing one too.
Don Taylor: My name is Donald. I'm in 10th grade, and poetry is a way to express myself. It is a way for me just to let out my emotions.
An Idea by Don Taylor
An idea
is like fishing
catching a thought
a piece of yourself
reeling you into
a place of imagination
An idea
is a place of curiosity
a place where there
is no one answer
but a place of infinite choices
Jinx: So, what's your preference for poetry? Do you like the shorter ones? The longer ones? The emotional ones?
Don: The poems I do usually end up more like a song.
I talk a lot about my past and how I felt emotionally at a point in time. Or I write exactly about what I'm thinking about in the present.
Most of it is just me listening to myself and my pen, writing everything down.
Jinx: I'm the same, except I don't hold a pen. I think it out first and see what connects and fits well together.
What it means to me is what matters. The audience might get it. They might understand. I just put it out there so they know they're not alone If they're feeling what I'm feeling.
Jinx: poetry is a great way to connect with people. The words connect to these little points in your brain and make a spark. Then you get ideas from other people's ideas, and it spreads. That's what I like most.
These poems and interviews were recorded in the library at the School of Innovation in Springfield. Special thanks to Beth Dixon from Wellspring and Kathy Lee, the principal at the School of Innovation.
