Like a Lighthouse

I am barely sixteen

an obsessive reader 

and literature lover

my english teacher shows us Sarah Kay

I fall in love with the way she says her words

like she made up language and we were just there to learn it

and I think to myself 

That I want to do that

I want to make people cry

I want to make people laugh

I add this to my long list of dreams 

In class we have a competition 

I write a poem about contradictions

I am young 

and only understand 

that my love for the stars 

does not connect with my love for human progression

I get second place

even when I deserved first because

a boy wrote a love poem and all the girls had swooned

I continue to write

When I feel empty 

I pour myself onto a page 

to remind myself that I had been filled the whole time 

A year later I attend a poetry slam

my life is simple

my poem is about 9/11

and the consequences of war

and a man with alopecia 

goes against me and wins 

because he had finally been able to call himself beautiful

this didn’t stop me

it pushed me to write better poetry 

to write stronger poetry

to strive to leave people with emotions

when a shooting hits my town

the only thing i know how to do is write

I post it online

people share it

and thats when I realize 

that I cannot be without my writing

like a lighthouse

it has set me free