Image by Werner Weisser from Pixabay

My first farming boots:
I wore them everywhere.
To work.
To school.
Even to the grocery store.

My first farming boots:
They worked.
I worked in them.
Without them, would I be the same?
No. I wouldn’t.

My first farming boots:
They meant something.
Friendship?
With boots?
No. They linked me to my friend.
Wearing them made me cool?
No. It made me feel liked.

My first farming boots:
My first real friend.
He made them become my first farming boots:
I love him for that.
He introduced me to a world.

A world I love to this day.
A world I desire everyday.

Words from the Author – Riley Hilyard
I wrote this because I like farming and my first boots meant a lot to me. While writing this I thought more about what made the boots feel special to me, Thinking back it wasn’t the boots. It was the friendship I got because of the farm.

Revision Decision:
This is really about friendship. Not my first farm boots, but I thought deeply into this and I think it is perfect for me.

Image by JCK.H from Pixabay

Behind closed doors and lips, sealed tight;

Silent voices whisper, thoughts in quiet flight.

Within heart’s chambers, secrets they confide,

Unspoken words in waves, a quiet tide.

In shadows’ refuge, stories gently weep,

In dreamscapes’ realm, their secrets softly keep.

Words From The Author – Noah Atyeo
The more I write the less I improve, so I thought that I might try and switch things up. I took a more unrealistic approach in describing the experience of keeping so much to yourself that it’s hard to tell people how you really feel. I took this idea of being a reclusive person and tried to show others how these “silent voices” aren’t really voices, but rather they are your own thoughts that you tell yourself.

Revision Decision
In my revision decision I decided to scrap the entire piece and extrapolate the essence of the poem, which is entirely up to the reader to figure out. Because I believe that the best poems are ones up to the interpretation of the minds that digest it.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Room full.
Crowded and unbare.
People walk everywhere.

People speaking.
So clamorous.
Unaware of their words.

Vision sinking.
Blurry and unfocused.
Unaware of my surroundings.

Tapping. Tapping. Tapping.
Tapping my side. Tapping.
Tapping my feet. Tapping.
Tapping. Tapping. Tapping

Heavy breathing.
Face red and hot.
Hands shaking.
Feeling nervous.

Focusing on myself,
instead of the room.
Inside of myself,
instead of the room.

Asking myself:
Where am I?
What is happening?

Snapping back into reality.

Voices become clear.
Vision is focused.
Fear going away.

Words from the Author – Caitlyn Batterbee
I wrote this poem to describe someone being in a noisy room full of people. I noticed, myself ,that I tend to “escape reality” by fidgeting and unfocusing my vision to help my anxiety or being overwhelmed. I find myself most of the time having to take a moment and calm down so I can retrace my steps and finish what I was doing, and i’m sure a lot of other people can feel the exact same way.

Revision Decision:
When I originally did this it was a prompt for creative writing we were doing. It was very long at first, but looking back on it I noticed that I can make the poem very simple while still being able to strongly replicate those emotions I was originally pinpointing. I also went through and replaced simple words with bigger, more descriptive words to help the readers have a real feel for what this poem is about.