If I Had Published My High School Poetry

A little while ago, I attended a poetry reading at my local book shop. April is national poetry month here in the states, so it’s common for such readings to be in an abundance. End of April/start of May also happens to be the busiest time for my job, and the reading fell on a day I just needed to step away from my desk – so I went.

I knew nothing about the poet or their work, but I always enjoy live readings. The truly best poets can make their words breathe right on the page, but even then, hearing them live opens new avenues into their work.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered the poet was still in high school. Out of curiosity, while I was waiting for the reading to start, I looked them up.

Now, I have to say that I appreciate and support the confidence of a high school poet self-publishing their book and holding a public reading. I certainly didn’t have that confidence back then. I barely have it now. I still remember the UntitledTown high school poets reading event – the confidence to read in public and the support of their family members present! I sat there in awe of them all.

But I also know (now) that I surely wasn’t writing publication-worthy poetry back then. For a couple decades, I moved from place to place and carried around notebooks full of such poetry, thinking someday I might do something with it. I eventually burned them.

I do wonder how this young poet might feel a couple decades from now when they hold this collection. Will they wish they had not done it? Or will they be proud of their fearlessness at that age? (Please know – these questions are not at all an implication of how I felt about their work. Just honest wondering given my own experience looking back.) I wonder what I would have done if I had had access to publish my own work into a collection back then. It was my dream, after all, to hold my own book in my hands.

I feel like an old lady saying ‘kids these days,’ but I do think a lot about the access kids these days have and how they will feel about it when they are older.