16 year old Soledad Alfaro-Allah was named City of Philadelphia Youth Poet Laureate on Monday, June 16. She was named to the post by Helen Haynes, the city’s Chief Cultural Officer, and Philadelphia poet laureate, Frank Sherlock. The youth poet position was created in 2013 to give young people the opportunity to develop showcase their talents and study under the guidance of the poet laureate. Soledad is in 10th grade at Science Leadership Academy. Check out her original poem, titled For Us:
I want to learn how to build with an axe
how to tear the blisters harboring splinters in my hands
for the love of something new
like a home or a smile
but I’ve only seen them tear things down in the name of hope
in the name of love someone show me how to dance
to the songs that life sings
in every second that the hims from the trees
hum the symphonies flapping
inside of humming birds wings
this is for the ones who know who much it hurts
to hear the sounds of how freedom really rings
but cast their bells loud enough
to play songs with the stars
but still walk at the speed of sound because
if you ever gaze you know that we all look at a sky full of ghosts
this is for us
For the soldiers who aim high
chocking back the tears
in their eyes
hoping to save their country from a
death sentence for one thousands years to life
when the sting of shotgun shells becomes to heavy
for the mothers who pick them up
when they hear the pounding of their sons
and daughters hearts against
ground because her ears have always been made of
stethascopes
her chest a pillow
her lap a prayer bed whete the water is full of sin
but ready to turn to
win thick and full of love on our bad days
this is for our bad days
for seeing how beautiful
a storm can be
How god can crack the sky with lighting
and stich it back together with the rolls in his voice
let’s call that thunder
let’s call him clockmaker
for every hour that the
earth ticks on it’s axis telling
the tails
we cried to
laughed to
for hearing the rings in the silence at night
for trying to listen
this is for loving contradiction
for the skeptic atheist clutching a
bible in hopes that paradise is real
and for the woman dressed in burkas
who hold his hands
in the name of living
this is for living
for the shatter in our breath
when we say I love you to eachother
for the days when we laugh at the sun
and cry in the rain
this is for us
this is for love.