Student Work

From a SpeakTogether virtual workshop, Talent Unlimited High School, Spring 2020

This poem was composed during a six-week session conducted by author and spoken word artist Sheri Booker, who worked with a class of 10th-grade students to develop their voices. This workshop took place during a global pandemic, a national lockdown, and uprisings across the country to end police brutality and structural racism. Read more about the works in this collection, which are artifacts of this period and a true testament to the vision, creativity, and resilience of these students.

Listen to a recording of the following poem above. 

Final Poem

by Grace Nelson

Here we are, standing so still
Right on the edge of nothingness
I can’t help but view an unfamiliar sill
As I mull over my mess
By the ocean, I feel at peace
Like nothing can hurt anymore
So maybe I can make it cease
If I take that dive and soar

Grace Nelson was a sophomore at Talented Unlimited High School in NYC at the time of this recording.

You can navigate their individual poems and listen to recordings of them reciting their stellar works below.