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i discovered Beyonce while I was in third grade. My older sister was listening to her album, Dangerously In Love, and I heard her reciting a poem. I was immediately intrigued with the images being described. Now as I go back and listen to that exact poem, I am definitely not as moved as my third grade self was, but I am forever grateful for this poem because it foreshadowed the joys I would soon experience from the world of literature, specifically, poetry.
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Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise”. To say that I was touched was an understatement. My life was changed. I ran home and recited the words to my mom, After reading more from her, I got inspired. I started writing my own poetry.
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. I also discovered my guilty pleasure: greek mythology. I was OBSESSED!!! I loved all the stories about the gods and goddesses and the shenanigans they got into. While everyone else was pouting at the idea of a greek mythology project in history class, I was all geeked up about it.
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To me, he was the dreamiest. This probably played a major part in my love for his poetry, but we’ll say it was the depth of a “Dream Deferred” that hooked me in. I loved the description of a “Dream Deferred” and easily understood it, but he lost me with “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”. Though considered an advanced student, his metaphors and descriptions of the rivers stomped me. My pride just wouldn’t have that. I got online, and searched the meaning of the poem
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I was so attached to the library from my very first visit of the young adult session. I ran my fingers over all the books, picked up the ones with the interesting covers, and vowed to read every book that had caught my eye that day. I spent my eleventh grade year keeping that vow. By the end of the year, I had read all the books on my list and the library was my home.
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And it was on the internet where I found my true love: spoken word poetry. The exact poem I fell in love with is called That Girl and it’s by Alysia Harris. The emotions in her words were so raw, the way she recited the poem was so moving. I could tell she had mentally gone back to the place she was describing. I spent that entire night watching YouTube videos of spoken word poetry and I was so intrigued.
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While in college, I found out about the website Wattpad. It’s a site where amateur writers posted their stories. It’s very addictive for someone like me. I spent hours and hours and days and days on wattpad. I got into different genres like crime stories, mysteries, and even historical fiction. I was having the time of my life.
