Creating art through spoken word

It is a Monday morning at 7:55 AM. While many students are in the cafeteria waiting for the bell, or enjoying their late start by sleeping in, a group of students are tucked away in the library sharing their experiences through the spoken word of poetry.

Breanna Abboud, senior, joined poetry club her sophomore year, but poetry has been one of her interests after researching poetry for her World Cultures class since freshman year.

“The first actual poetry workshop that I went to really struck me,” Abboud said. “This is what I want to do. Everyone was so happy that you were sharing poetry, and no one was mean. They were all just very encouraging. It was a good environment.”

This environment led Abboud to grow in her skills and interest level of creating art through poetry, Tess Melvin, senior, said.

“I recruited her for poetry club which I am going to take over as president this year,” Melvin said. “Poetry club is definitely where I think her interest started to flourish. She seemed like she has always been creatively minded and I know that she had written before. Poetry club really provided that outlet for her to share her work.”

For Abboud, sharing poetry is not only an outlet to share her work, but is used as a way of getting her feelings out.

“It has made my life easier,” Abboud said. “Whenever I feel so strongly about something, I can write about it and it doesn’t affect me as much after. It is like a coping thing. Usually when people feel sad, they feel alone, so when I hear people’s poems and that they go through similar situations that I do, I don’t feel so alone.”

The sense of community Abboud feels is evident, as most of her friends are from poetry club.

She attributes her growth in poetry to the club’s safe and open environment where she can express her true feelings.

“Because there are not many people that go to poetry club, it feels a lot more intimate. It’s a secret I suppose. Something we do back and forth,” Weronika Markowska, junior, said. “Because poetry is so intimate, I get to learn more about Breanna and the way she feels about things especially when the subjects tend to be from the heart and about her experiences. It’s like not even having to ask a question, just receiving an answer in the form of art.”

The subjects of poetry Abboud writes is shaped by the experiences she has endured, no matter the size.

“In my book, no experience is too small for a poem. If you’re scared of rollercoasters and want to write a poem about how it relates to your life, do it,” Abboud said. “For me though, I mainly write about how someone hurt me and how it has affected me. I also write about when I get frustrated about something, like traffic or the new school grading system. The experiences vary a lot unless it’s something that has affected me a lot.”

As time continues to go on, Abboud and others believe she has grown in her skills of poetry. She now presents more of her work weekly, Melvin said.

“What we write is very dependent on our experiences so Breanna obviously has a lot of unique experiences and she has been able to articulate that in a very intense, well-written way,” Melvin said. “I would definitely say she has grown, because the work we do leads to progression. I am very proud of the way she has been able to talk about her experiences. She has made a lot of progress.”

Abboud’s skills and love for poetry continues to grow and she now goes to slam poetry meetings every Friday, outside of school. Even after high school, Abboud says she is going to continue taking her experiences to create the art of poetry.