by Stazja McFadyen

"The pen is mightier than the sword," wrote 19th Century author Edward Bulwer-Lytton. These days, the old ballpoint is hard pressed to meet the challenge. Modern weapons are more formidable than mere swords. With mass media bringing us so much troubling news, it's enough to send you to Office Depot for a battalion of Bic's®. You might hand some out to your children, while you are at it.

James Bailey, an LBJ High School Science Academy student, penned these timely words in his poem, "Another February 16th":

"Sometimes I think
that life is filled with potholes,
instead of land minds,
but moments like these make me realize
all the time bombs placed in our lives
are tests toward a greater war,
a war with ourselves."

Bailey is among 32 area youth poets published in Austin Younger Poets Award Anthology 1999, edited by Frank Pool, chairman of the Austin International Poetry Festival.

In addition to the Austin Younger Poets contest, the 1999 AIPF began community outreach programs such as the "poetry slam" in The Park at Austin's Children's Hospital. Visiting guest poet Alan Kaufman launched the inaugural slam on April 13, assisted by English poet Jamuna and AIPF board member Dr. Byron Kocen. The children's poems were compiled in a mini anthology, "Wildflowers," which includes this piece by Raul Mendoza:

Mi Vida
La genta cree que estoy contento cuando
Me ve sonreir pero es un poco de tanta alegría
Que tenia antes de mi enfermnedad pero mi gran Ilusíon es volver a México y ser el mismo de Anes pero si no es asi estare igual de contento
Porque tengo mi vida y mi familia.

English translation:

My Life
People think I am contented when they
see me smile but it is a small happiness that I had before my illness
but my great dream is to return to Mexico and be the same as I was before.
But if this is not to be
I will be as contented
because I have my life and my family.

Kaufman wrote in the "Wild Flowers" preface, "The young patients received us a little warily at first, but in no time, poetry was jamming in the joint. One nurse kept score. Cynthia Fitzpatrick, the social director, served as impromptu translator for a patient whose mother tongue was Spanish. Byron gave pointers on writing while Jamuna played dramatic drum rolls on his bongos. The kids got to writing. Then one by one they took the stage to strut their stuff. Raul Mendoza, Troy Gilliam and Melanie blew us away with poems written on the spot in less time than you can say 'Yeats!' These kid champions give meaning to the word courage and offer proof positive that poetry is alive and well in every human heart."

AIPF is among several local educational and arts organizations assisting youths to put their pens to task.

Poets United, created by members of Huston-Tillotson College's Community Service Partnership Project, produced an anthology titled Pages of Power. The intergenerational collection including pieces written by children of the Rosewood Family Learning Center during Dr. Marvin Kimbrough's English 303 class tutorial visit to Rosewood.

Deborah Orr of Outreach Productions is currently seeking poems by school children for an upcoming anthology, The Youth Have A Million Voices. Poetry in the Schools annual contests are sponsored by the Austin Poetry Society. This year's participants included nearly two hundred students from fourteen area schools. Awards and cash prizes were presented at the Austin Poetry Society's 50th Anniversary Annual Awards on May 15.

On a national level, WritersCorps "has helped more than 12,000 people in some of America's most disadvantaged neighborhoods express an inner truth that previously lay dormant or denied" since its inception in 1994. In the fall of 1997, coordinator Nancy Schwalb started the Washington, D.C.-based Youth Poetry Slam League in four middle schools. The YPSL now reaches into every middle school in the District of Columbia, with expansion teams in San Francisco and the Bronx. Utilizing volunteer instructors, YPSL conducts workshops "to introduce and expose youth to creative writing as a way to cultivate self-expression, build community, and recognize and validate creative and intellectual ability."

Borders Books and Music has partnered up with WritersCorps, underwriting the 1998-1999 interscholastic YPSL tour. "As a company we are extremely excited about our association with WritersCorps and that we are able to support the youth voices," said Ann Binkley, Borders spokesperson in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

With Borders stores as venues, the YPSL tour kicked off in San Francisco on January 23, and wrapped up with "Bring In Da Slam III" before a standing room only audience estimated at 700 in Washington, D.C. on May 15.

For those of you who have never attended a poetry slam, it is a poetry competition judged half on content and half on performance. A panel of five judges rate each poet on a scale of 0 to 10, with the top score and bottom score thrown out. Slams often begin with a "sacrificial poem" to give the judges a chance to warm up.

With National Public Radio's Ray Suarez serving as master of ceremonies, Borders CEO Bob DiRomualdo delivered the first sacrificial poem at "Bring In Da Slam III." He couldn't hold a candle to the poetic talents of his YPSL co-commissioners, Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and the Slam Pappy himself, Marc Smith. He was a good sport, nonetheless, breaking the ice for the six YPSL contenders to take on the competing team of veterans: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Henry Taylor, Nikki Giovanni, D.J. Renegade, Quincy Troupe, Grace Cavalieri, and Jeffrey McDaniel.

The YPSL team was made up of Shonnell Shelton and Michael Billups from Washington, D.C.; Tabia Brown and Jason Gamio from The Bronx, N.Y; and Kethan Hubbard and Natriece Spicer from San Francisco.

Natriece's aunt Lannay lives in Washington, D.C. She had never attended a slam before. But when Natriece earned a perfect 30 on her performance in the final round, Aunt Lannay didn't need anyone to explain what the standing ovation was all about.

The YPSL team took down the competition and took home the trophies. There are worse ways to spend a Saturday night.

Perhaps the pen is still up to the task, after all.