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.