On Thursday, May 19, 2022 the National English Honor Society held a poetry slam in the courtyard during block three.  The slam was open to all Middletown High School North students.  This year’s winner was Carmen Savarese (9).  

The Poetry Slam is a competition led by the advisers of the NEHS, Mrs. Goldfarb, Mrs. McGowan and Ms. VanEtten.  The competition allows students to share their original poems with an audience.  The winners are then selected by a group of judges who score each student based on their presentation of the poem, as well as the poem’s content.

This year’s winner gave a moving performance of her poem titled “I Wished”.  When asked about the meaning behind her poem, Ms. Savarese stated, “My poem is about one of the ways I coped with stress and life as a child. There was a long stretch of time where I would wish on stars at night, especially if I couldn’t fall asleep. The poem shows that while I held on to the hope and comfort these wishes gave me for a while, I eventually lost faith in them and gave up on trying.”

Ms. Savarese was also asked what made her decide to participate in this year’s poetry slam and she recalled a memory from middle school.  She explained that in sixth grade the students’ scores on the technical aspects of their poems determined whether or not they were invited to participate in the poetry slam.  

“I got points off for changing things slightly when I read mine out loud and a spelling mistake, meaning I didn’t get chosen to go. I (obviously) held a grudge about this and have participated in every poetry slam since to get back at her. I got second place last year and wanted to try again for this year’s poetry slam,” she said.

Kaitlyn Nickerson (12) earned second place in this year’s poetry slam and Nicole Piacentino (10) earned third place.  Congratulations to the winners and great job to all those who participated!

“I wished”

When I was little,

I tried every way to wish

On the night sky

Every star

In my reach

Every planet

In the cosmos

Even the planes

That passed by

The constellations

I could count

When the moon arrived

In the day

When the sun

Blocked out the night

Orion kept me company

While the wishes

Washed over me

Carina carried me

When the wishes

Made me cry

Lyra held my hand

As my wishes

Turned to songs

Pyxis led me

For the wishes 

Made me stray

Starlight became sunlight

Moonlight was what I breathed

Stardust made up my being

Dark nights were my mind

My wishes framed my worries

My mind, clouded,

Created false hope

Each night I whispered

To the first star I saw

Even when there were clouds

The weather

Couldn’t stop me

Whether it rained

Or if it snowed

When it was summer

And the day stayed late

Or when the fog 

Rolled in

Nothing prevented me

Even if it was just

A single wish

I had made that night

I wished for anything

I wished on each star

A thousand times

Each time a new wish

Each time searching for

An answer

I couldn’t fix

The things I thought

Would help me cope

The things I thought

I needed the most

Consumed my head

While I should be asleep

And not watching the shadows

Hiding in my bed

I wished

Mostly for myself

But sometimes for others

Because little me’s morals

Could have torn my soul

For if even one selfish thought

Crossed my mind

I loathed

That each wish

Was centered around me

Even though

It felt as if

Wishes were what I breathed

I wished for my family,

For my friends,

For the gods

But each wish for them

Was 10 wishes

For selfish young me

I was 8 years old

Wishing while staring

Out my window

But now,

I sleep with the blinds closed