This past May Western Wayne eighth graders Azalea Joglar and Hailey Wasman had their original poetry published on the website Teen Ink. The girls wrote autobiographical poems as an ELA assignment and afterwards submitted them to the publication and were selected to appear on the Teen Ink website.
Teen Ink is a website and national teen magazine devoted entirely to teenage writing, art, photos, and forums. For over 33 years, Teen Ink has offered teens the opportunity to publish their creative work and opinions on issues that affect their lives – everything from love and family to school, current events, and self-esteem. Hundreds of thousands of students, aged 13-19, have submitted their work to us, and Teen Ink has published more than 55,000 teens since 1989.
Teen Ink offers some of the most thoughtful and creative work generated by teens today. The organization has no staff writers or artists; they depend completely on submissions from teenagers around the world for our content. Teenink.com has over 480,000 registered users and continues to grow every day.
Azalea’s poem titled “Define Me” can be found at the following link http://teenink.com/poetry/all/article/1157847/Define-Me or read below. She won the status of Editor’s Choice from Teen Ink.
The team of editors at Teen Ink reads and reviews everything that’s submitted to the publication – and when they see something that really stands out, they mark it as Editor’s Choice.
Azalea explained that her poem is about how society puts labels on people, and how she doesn’t want to be labeled and how she doesn’t think others should be labeled either.
“My poetry helps me to express the ways I view things in life,” Azalea explained.
She continues to work on her poetry in her spare time, most recently writing a piece that personifies paper and how its existence plays so many different roles in people’s lives. Azalea looks forward to continuing to develop her writing in high school. She is an honor roll student who enjoys studying all subjects.
Fellow classmate Hailey Wasman’s poem titled “Embrace the Shot” also has been published on Teen Ink. It can be found at the following link https://www.teenink.com/poetry/free_verse/article/1158723/Embrace-The-Shot or read below.
Hailey explained the meaning of her poem.
“This piece of poetry is about a person’s mind through the years,” she explained. “The poem is meant to show feelings from anger and frustration to joy and happiness.”
Hailey mostly enjoys writing to express her thoughts and feelings. Her favorite subjects in school are math and history. She is an honor roll student and member of the Western Wayne softball team and does a lot with her local 4 H Club.
From left: Azalea Joglar and Hailey Wasman.
“Define Me”
By Azalea Joglar
From a young age society puts a label on us.
If we break their label they cause a fuss.
But I will not let society define me anymore,
Brave people must stand up and fight this war.
Then again when you stand up society points out your flaws,
They start to tear you down with their words using their claws.
So rise above and tell them a few scratches won’t hurt.
I stand up, because I am not dirt.
I am not defined by the color of my skin,
I am not defined by the music I listen to,
I am not defined by my grin,
I am not defined by the songs on queue,
I am not defined by the college I want to go to,
I am not defined by my number of friends,
I am not defined by the color blue,
I am not defined by my writing pens,
I am not defined by how much I weigh,
I am not defined by my height,
I am not defined by if I am gay,
I am not defined by my favorite soda sprite,
I am not defined by my grades,
I am not defined by my past.
I am not defined by how my talkativeness fades,
I am not defined by my fears,
I am not defined by my skill of writing,
I am not defined by my flood of tears,
I am not defined by my hate for the suns lighting,
I am not defined by track and cheer,
I am not defined by my drawings,
I am not defined by my seat in class,
I am not defined by my collected things,
I am not defined by who in the hallways I say hi to when we pass,
I am not defined by how much I study,
I am not defined by the books I read on the shelf,
I am not defined by who I find funny,
I am defined by how I treat others and myself,
Society tries to define us and rate us on our appearance.
They try to rate our lives and our looks on a scale from 1-10.
And the “ugly and unsuccessful” ones get treated like items on clearance.
None of us are perfect, never will be, never have been.
So society go ahead and rate me on your number scale,
Because I will hold my head up high and proudly fail.
“Embrace the Shot”
By Hailey Wasman
Lightning and thunder
Rain and clouds
Wind whips across the cold hard ground.
Screaming through the pain
But relishing in the gain.
Praying on my knees
Give me salvation, please.
Hours and hours
Shall reap rewards.
Time, ole’ time, the time you put in
Will come back to reward you in the very end.
When the broke is the dam
Barn doors slam
But inside, you wouldn’t’ know, is a lamb
They yell,
They scream
Advice that seems so obscene
Most say “live life base by base”
Other say “sometimes that is not the case”
“Miss the throw
But make the catch”.
Head in my hands
Heart in my chest
Believe me
I’m trying my best
Oh, give me something to take the edge off
Something to take my mind off
This so-called life.
The horrors
The pain
What is there for me to gain?
Family and friends
Lord and faith
For what are my dreams made?
Acres and acres
Blood, sweat, and tears
But, my pride, it is all for you my dear.
The skillful eye
Critiques from head to toe
But I will let you know
It is your friend not your foe.
Skin and bone
Flesh and blood
Will not help you survive the great flood.
Faith and strength
Will help survive what is to come.
Medals and trophies
Ribbons and banners
All lead to a playful banter.
The choir sings a glorious tune
While the preacher makes his evening commune.
Through the swamps
Through the hollows
An old hound dog
On the tail of a wily coon.
Whitetail doe,
Whitetail buck
It is all in your luck.
Breathe in
Breathe out
Embrace the shot
And let it ring out
