Junior Year Totem Assembly

Every year at my High School, on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the literary magazine and creative writing class held an assembly where students in litmag and creative writing (plus a few extras who volunteered) read poems...mainly from the lit mag.

So, my English assignment after the assembly was to write a short paragraph about the poem I liked best from the assembly. I never actually finished the assignment, but I thought I'd share the beginnings of the essay (not paragraph) I was writing.

Of all the superb literary selections read at the Totem Assembly 2007, only a few stood out as literary excellency. These were the works of the talented poet, Lissa J. Although she only had three poems read on that Wednesday, each poem touched the heart through rhyme, metaphor, and the presentation in itself. Her poem, "My Snowflake, My Flame" was published in the Totem Magazine of 2006 during Lissa's freshman year of high school, while the other two: "Gullible" and "When Heaven Opened Up that Door," were read by Lissa herself from her own personal poetry collection. Each poem was unique in style, yet held the same heart-written quality. Lissa's poems projected struggles of everyday life, such as overcoming fear to reach goals and dreams, as well as internal battles of worth and religion. Lissa's final selection brought hope to times of trial. The same could not be said for any other poem in the assembly.

Written in 2005, "My Snowflake, My Flame" is the oldest of Lissa's selections read in the assembly. Parsippany High School Junior, and close personal friend to Lissa, Alex P., read the freshman's work with passion. Lissa, through free-verse, metaphorically compares the relationship between fear and dreams to the relationship between fire and snow. In the poem, a snowflake is easily compared to hopes and dreams inside a person's heart. Each dream is different, as no snowflake is exactly identical. However, at times, just like snowflakes, dreams and hopes can be fragile. Fire is death to a snowflake; it only takes a small amount of heat to melt it. Similarly, fear is a major issue in reaching goals and dreams. Although she did not hear the saying until a couple years after the poem was written, Lissa feels that the quote heard on the weekend of January 4-6, 2008 perfectly applies to the poem. "Faith will move a mountain, but fear will freeze a mountain mover."

No, I don't actually think my poems were that great...but it was a pretty entertaining assignment.

--

My Snowflake, My Flame (2005)

A silver snowflake
Burned by the flame
Now only a memory
The crystal pattern
Melted away
A love
Still strong
But distant
A life I had
But never knew
A power within
I feel
But cannot unleash
The snowflake
That is inside
With the crystal pattern
Of me
Of my history
The snowflake that peeks out
But hides away
It holds the power
If I can only let it out
But it is the flame
The fear
The doubt
That makes the snowflake hide
Makes me hide it
My snowflake
My power
My past
But also my flame

--

Gullible (2007)

How gullible am I

that I believe each lie

that people really care

and that when I need them they are there

I'm stupider than stupid

I'm an idiotic little kid

Those lies that they said, I believe are true

in fact, God, silly me, I actually believed in You

--

When Heaven Opened Up That Door (August 14, 2007)

For a stranger I shed my last tear
dry my eyes and let my vision become clear
I look ahead to the morning sky
find peace in uncertainty and I don't know why
But I know you were were given everything that you could ask for
when Heaven opened up that door

Searching for escape from the pain called life
wondering if freedom is in the pills and knife
A crying heart at each moment past
Hoping and praying each breath will be the last
Looking to see if there is something more
a discovery made when Heaven opened up that door

Doomed to eternal separation between man and Divine
A lonely eternity destined to be yours and mine
God became Man; nailed to a tree
The perfect sacrifice needed to set the world free
Love demonstrated like never before
when Heaven opened up that door