Our Youth Poetry Program fosters literacy and self-expression across the curriculum and works to support the strong, fluent voices of a new generation of writers and their communities. As part of a multipronged attempt to break the patterns of marginalization and erasure we’ve seen historically in the region, WordSpaceStudios’ Youth Poetry After-School Program amplifies poets whose voices are representative of Bay Area communities. Activities are designed to inspire young poets to express curiosity; play with sounds, words, colors, and structures; experiment with literary meaning-making; explore their identities and cultural practices; share stories about their lived experiences; and imagine the change they want to see and be. Each 8-week phase culminates in an anthology of student work and a reading event for students, their families, their schools, and the local community.
Student Poetry Samples
Years of Youth
by 4th grade student
Years of youth, still upon me yet partly behind.
As I look back upon my simple tasks
Growing, same as I.
When I was one I was a single gem,
Valuable yet fragile, adventurous yet clear in the eye of life.
When I was two I was a small apple tree,
Unprotected from the winds of complexity.
When I was three I was an adventurous tiger cub
Sneaking around the world I had just met.
When I was four I was a potter
always coming up with a new design of life.
When I was five I was a dragon protecting a sacred city.
When I was six I was the Sun shining with pride on my finished work.
When I was seven I was a field of wheat glowing in the day.
When I was eight I was a sorceress with powers great and bright.
Now I am nine and I am a warrior fighting for my rights and responsibilities.
My birthday’s coming soon
I will be ten then.
What will I be?
Nine is Like the Sun
By 4th grade student
Nine is like the sun shining brightly in the
Land, Nine is a fawn sipping water from the creak.
Nine is glorious.Nine is my favorite number
Golden and beautiful like the grass in the summer, Nine
Is like an ocean with gentle waves, Nine is
Like an owl with beautiful white wings
That glisten in the sun.
Nine is a horse prancing and jumping.
Its silver hooves gleaming in the sun.
Nine is like a wolf stalking a rabbit.
Nine is a field filled with flowers and bushes
Nine is like the wind rustling the trees.
Nine is like the sun shining brightly
On the land.
One Word Prompt
By 7th Grade student
Rage is a broken heart,
Bliss is a piece of chocolate,
Sadness is a dying flame,
Jealousy is why the sun and moon dance,
Forgiveness is the earth,
Inpatients is the hands of a ticking clock,
Betrayal is an abandoned nest.
QUESTION POEM
By 7th Grade student
Why is the cloud fogging my view?
When I am alone, the day feels so old
Do we all just spin in circles?
Adding numbers to the clock
Time is nothing but an age
Why are they shouting in my ear,
Go faster! Go faster!
Time always runs out eventually
Maybe it’d be better
If we could just wake up.
Is there a difference between day and night?
Black or white?
I guess we’re all living in shades of gray
Is life just shades of sleep, of dreams?
They say nothing is as it seems.
Why am I like this?
And we are so different these days
How am I still in this place?
Can you see me,
If time,
If life,
Is nothing but a dream?