Poetry is one of the most beautiful art forms we have. It offers a way for individuals to express themselves, connect with others, and explore something in our lives in a new way. 21CCCS is proud of our very own resident poet, Tiffany Power, whose passion for poetry has led to a recent publication. Tiffany is inspired by the world around her, and loves expressing what she has experienced. We are so proud of her accomplishment: being published through the Poeticpower/Creative Communications contest.

Upon learning of Tiffany’s exciting news, I wanted to learn more about her writing process. In a recent interview, Tiffany shared how she started writing poetry, what she loves to write about, and what keeps her writing. Read below to learn more about her, and to view a sample of her poetry.

Q: When did you first start writing poetry?
A: I guess that I first really started writing at the end of sixth grade when we did a pretty extensive poetry unit in school.

Q: What inspires you to write?
A: Other writers, mostly. When you listen to a song on the radio and it describes exactly what you’re going through or thinking, it’s amazing. And songs are just poetry put to music. If someone can read or hear what I write and get something out of it, that’s just really cool.

Q: Where do your ideas come from?
A: My ideas come from what happens to me. Life itself, really. You write what you know. If some rich person who’s an awesome writer were to write about how hard life is when you have to work hard for a living or when you have to make the best out of the little that you have, it won’t be as good as if someone who’s actually had to go through it were writing. I’m not saying it wouldn’t be a good piece of writing, just that it wouldn’t mean as much since they’ve never actually felt what it is they were writing about.

Q: What topics does your writing mostly explore?
A: Lately, I’ve been writing a lot about love and, consequently, heartbreak. Oh, the woes of being a teenager!

Q: What do you hope to do in the future? Do you want to publish your poetry? If so, where? (What magazines, venues?)
A: I’ve had one poem published officially, so far for the Poeticpower/Creative Communications writing contest. I first entered the Spring 2012 contest they had and since received the book. I submitted another poem to their Fall 2012 contest in December. I recently got a letter in the mail saying they want to publish the second poem in this book. I would like to find some contests that offer college scholarships or money to the winners to get something towards school (college is expensive!).

Q: What would you say to other poets? How might you encourage them?
A: It doesn’t matter what you write about. You can write about anything you know! I’ve started reading some of the other poems in the book that mine is published in and so far I’ve seen some poems about relatives, holidays, the seasons, love, and even one about toast! There are no rules about what you can write.

Q: Why do you like writing poetry? What do you get out of it?
A: I like writing poetry, writing in general, really, because I’m good at it; it’s something I can do. I like words, random words, vocabulary (my favorite word is defenestrate), putting words together, etc. because it comes easy for me. Math and science… not so much. I get some pretty good memories out of it. Seeing all that a person has written you can see if they’ve gotten better and it’s like a timeline of their life. I can look back on the things that I wrote and be like, “Oh, I remember I was going through this when I wrote that” or “I wrote that about this person”.

Q: How has your life changed since you started writing poetry?
A: I’m not sure if this question is asking how my life has changed and that has affected how I write/what I write about or how the act of writing has helped to change my life since I started. I guess I’ll try to answer both. Looking at my writings from 8th grade or so, when I made the transition into cyberschooling, you can see that I wasn’t very happy. But as my life progressed and things changed and I met some new friends, you can see how my writing reflected this happiness. Writing has helped me to keep control of my emotions and get them out, rather than keep them pent-up inside of me.

Q: Are there any classes here at 21CCCS (or clubs?) that have helped you to develop your poetic nature?
A: I haven’t really had any classes that focused to much on the aspect of poetry. The English classes have a short unit on it. I tried attending the Poetry Club meetings, but I can never find the time between school and other things that I have going on.
The following two poems were recently published by the Poeticpower/Creative Communications contest.

 

This Must Be

I close my eyes and I can see
Your sparkling smile aimed right at me.
I feel the rush when I’m around you.
My head starts to spin from the adrenaline.

Butterflies in my stomach, I’m weak at the knees.
I’m not sure I can breathe with you this close to me.
This must be how it feels to be in love.

I look up and my eyes meet yours.
You smile and then you look away.
Thoughts of you race through my mind.
Can you tell I am dreaming about you and I?

Butterflies in my stomach, I’m weak at the knees.
I’m not sure I can breathe with you this close to me.
This must be how it feels, how it feels to be in love

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time we were in love,
Once upon a time it was enough.
Once upon a time you broke my heart,
Once upon a time we fell apart.

Once upon a time we were together,
Once upon a time we were forever.
Once upon a time we thought we’d last,
Once upon a time is in the past.

Once upon a time we were in love,
Once upon a time it really was true.
Once upon a time we were together,
Once upon a time there was me and you.

Once upon a time it was you I loved,
Once upon a time it was enough.
Once upon a time I broke your heart,
I don’t want us to fall apart.