What's one thing you love?

Poetry.

What's one thing you hate?

Speaking.

Well,

What about reciting a poem?

That's different.

How?

I'm doing something I love.

But you're also doing something you hate.

Spoken-word poetry just makes me feel different.

What do you mean?

When I'm reciting a poem, it's as if the only world that exists

Is the world in which the poem exists.

You're confusing me.

It's simple.

How do you think I won the title "Poetry Out Loud School Runner-Up" my sophomore year of high school?

I... I don't know.

The worst part about my recitations was saying the titles.

What?

I was just so connected with my poems.

Think of it this way.

You find someone you really truly love,

From the bottom of your heart. Following?

Mhmm.

You can say whatever you want to this person,

And about this person. Still with me?

Yes.

You can say anything you want because

You know they will always help you for the better.

That's like my connection with poems.

It doesn't matter if they're on paper or spoken.

It doesn't matter if there are one-thousand people

Listening

Or if it's just the two of us.

Is that why I'm the only one listening?

-Hannah Rickert

(This poem was meant to signify the bond between a poet and the poem)