Poetry is the best way of communicating your ideas, feelings, oppresions, bad days, good days, happy days, and sad days. The worst thing to do with poetry is write stuff that makes you feel bad. The best thing you can do with poetry is write poetry that makes you feel good. I know when I first found out that I was going to be saludatorian this year, I was just ecstatic. I went home and immediately wrote a poem about it. I sent it to best friend, Alice. She was so interested in my poetry that it made her cry. I know this sounds like I wrote sad poetry but she was actually crying tears of joy, I can promise you that. I know this because she told me so.

      My other best friend, Melanie, says that poetry is the literature of the soul. I think that is so unbelievably true. The very best poetry perfectly describes the way that you feel without having to say how you feel directly. Most people don't think about it this way but lyrics in songs are definitely the same thing as poetry, just set to music. The song, "Beautiful Day" by U2, is an excellent example of this. I know that when I first heard this song in the ninth grade, it made me feel so unbelievably good, just full of optimism, vim and vinegar! I knew then that I could become the saludatorian, if I tried really hard and never gave up. And I did it.

     I would just like to add one last thing - poetry feels the body and spirit with so many emotions ("feels" is NOT a typo, just so you know). You just have to look hard and think about it and you'll be so glad that you read it. You'll just know that you can do just about anything. You'll know that the future is so excellent and the past is a wonderful, amazing memory that will light up only the future for years to come and maybe then some.