Meet sophomore Maya Waldorf, who has a passion for poetry. Waldorf began writing poems in 5th grade, after feeling inspired by her teacher.
“I’m dyslexic so writing in a grammatical way has always been hard. My 5th grade teacher taught me that poetry wasn’t something that had to be grammatically correct, but could just be a place to pour out all my words,” Waldorf said.
When facing a stressful situation, Waldorf sits down at her computer and lets words of worry spill from her fingers into poetry.
“I always use poetry to explain how I’m feeling,” Waldorf said.
In her poem, “The Hour Glass’s Lament,” Waldorf discusses her fears of not finishing assignments in time for finals. Waldorf recalls having all her incomplete assignments listed on a document and as she looked through them, she realized she didn’t have time to get all of them done.
“It was like the days were counting down. I thought of this glass of sand and everything slowly running out of time,” Waldorf said.
To de-stress, Waldorf took a few minutes to write a short poem.
“I think that poem just shows that last-minute struggle of ‘I don’t know if I can finish this’.”
Another of Waldorf’s poems about mental health, particularly focusing on her experience with seasonal depression, is “Dewdrop Dreams.” Maya wrote “Dewdrop Dreams” on a cloudy, rainy day with no sun in sight. Filled with sadness about the weather, Waldorf spilled her wishes for sunlight into her work.
The Hourglass’s Lament
In the echo of the ticking clock,
Procrastination weaves its wistful tale,
Time slips through fingers, a fleeting flock,
Anxiety rises, like a rising gale.
A dance with deadlines, a risky bet,
Feeling the grip of time’s cruel snare,
Yet within the sands, hope lingers yet,
To conquer the urge, to do and dare.
Dewdrop Dreams
In anxious hearts, where shadows creep,
Dewdrops cling like fragile dreams,
Nature’s dance, a promise to keep,
Love, the sunlight’s golden beams.
Teenage worries, like morning mist,
Lift beneath the azure hue,
In nature’s arms, they find their tryst,
Love, the compass, steady and true.
