This week on Under the Radar:
We’re marking this National Poetry Month by taking a look at our next generation of local poets . Who are the young writers and lyrical wordsmiths shaping the newest wave of poetry? And what about Massachusetts’ poetry scene, which is rapidly expanding across the state?
GUESTS:
Anjalequa Leynneyah Verona Birkett , Boston’s 2022 Youth Poet Laureate.
Adael Francisco-Mejia , Worcester’s 2022 Youth Poet Laureate.
Danielle Jones , poet, educator, and Mass Poetry’s program director.
WEB EXTRA: We sent out a call to the community to send in their poems. Take a listen to local youth poet Alma Barak reading her poem "To Smell."
To Smell / By Alma Barak
Cake batter chapstick uncapped
Cupcake smell blossoms through my nose
for a second
until it snuffs out
Only a memory of a fragrance
How long until I stop remembering?
How long until even the memory smells stop?
I don’t have corona anymore
but the effects have not left me.
I relish when
the smoked herring I eat
gifts its fishy smell
upon my waiting palms.
Smell
beautiful smell
surrounds me
encompasses me
embraces me
I fall into its arms
I forgot what it feels like
to smell
everywhere
It always leaves
soapy foam steals away the fishiness
I scrub
Knowing there will be nothing left
Knowing
there are
Very
few things
I can smell like herring.
Others say
That smells so good
It smelt like something was burning
Smell the flowers!
Smell
is not appreciated
until it is lost
I appreciate it.
I know
what it feels like
to suck in cold air through your nose
searching
searching
for a sniff
of a fragrance somewhere
but not finding anything
I know
what it feels like
to press your nose so deep into a dish
and have your nose fail you
I know.
