I cannot come up with a more powerful intro for what I need to say, so I'm just going to say it the way I feel it...
I love poetry. Poetry has really come a long way for me and has been there when I've felt the most solitary, devastated, and joyful. I remember being in 3rd grade and absolutely hating poetry since I sucked at it and it reminded me of what I missed/wanted the most. I still remember the Christmas poem I wrote for my class, "Roses are red, violets are blue. Sugar is sweet and so are you." the classic cliche lines and then I wrote, "Mom and dad is what I need for this Christmas Eve". I felt a deep pit in my stomach. I missed my parents a lot. Then 4th, 5th, and 6th grade came along and I still hated poetry. 7th grade arrived and my "poetic" nightmares returned. I was given a list of 10 words that I had to include in a poem of whatever length I chose. Never in my life had I had such fun playing with words. I can't remember how it goes, but it spoke about clocks, time travel, pirates, and blue, etc. I then decided to give poetry a chance again, yet for some reason never felt quite inspired to do so. I hit 10th grade and I decided to randomly write a poem for a writing contest about how much technology has stupefied our society. I lost. Towards mid-10th grade I was given the opportunity to participate in an Open Mic Night and say my "The Invisible W-O-M-A-N" poem live in front of 100 people for a contest. I backed out. I had an anxiety attack and couldn't perform. I was so nervous that I had to explain 100 people who I was, yet in reality I had no clue. I became angry that my emotions set my own limitations and I used that anger in a positive manner to act differently if any other similar opportunity presented itself. That summer I wrote 7 new poems. I couldn't recognized my writing. It was different. Creative. Deep. Exciting. It allowed me to be different people all at once. It allowed be to be nature. Yet my characters always took the lead. They are the speakers (I cannot control them), I merely record what they say. It was everything I wanted it to be. This year, I am entering 2 poetry competitions and having a volunteer to say my new poem for Open Mic Night. I refuse to let my voice remain silenced. Poetry has been part of my evolution of maturing and will always be important to me. Writing is a gift of which I am very thankful for. Currently, I am working on a poem to empower women and I really hope I can impact at least one person and make them feel better about themselves. There is so much more I wish I could say, yet I'd rather leave this off for another day. 
                                                                                                                                                                 - S.M-B