Cradles; 3 Hundred and 4; Presiding Another
Rena K.
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All three poems are separate works. Cradles illustrates the increasing burdens of growing up, represented by three snapshots of a girl’s life: the first depicts a toddler fiddling with food under a parent’s watch, the second, a girl-scout badge filled with the first hardships selling cookies, and the third illuminates a hooded figure stressing over homework. 3 Hundred and 4 is an allusion to the 2014 Sewol Ferry incident and about the detriments of generational expectations; using the devastating incident as an example, I emphasized the pitfalls younger students or children face when forced to obey adults by discarding their own dreams. Presiding Another, inspired by William Carlos Williams, puts someone in a courthouse during trial, when waiting and receiving a verdict; through this poem, readers must face their very own trials, whether the verdict of an experience is one confronted as the victim or defendant, emerging guilty or innocent.
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It’s a means of self-expression that not only forces artists to be vulnerable with themselves and an audience, but also creates a community of inspiration and support. Creativity is allowing oneself to look past what one is given or seemingly restricted to and letting yourself be yourself.
