Cornwall High School sophomore Isabella Crow didn’t enter the Timothy Mumford Poetry Contest expecting to win, but when she received the news, she was surprised. The annual competition, hosted by the Cornwall Public Library, was held April 28.
“I’m fairly new to Cornwall and didn’t know the scale of the competition or how many people would enter,” Crow said. “Usually I’ll submit to competitions and not really worry about it. I submitted it and thought, ‘if it worked out, it worked out.’ If it didn’t no harm was done. I didn’t spend much time thinking about the likelihood of winning.”
Crow, who moved to Cornwall in June, said she was honored to participate, especially after learning the contest is held in the memory of the 1999 high school graduate.
Having written rudimentary poems since she was little, Crow didn’t start to seriously write until last year when she took a creative writing class. When she saw the flyer for the contest, she decided to submit two of her favorites.
“I wasn’t sure who the judges would be and what style they would prefer,” Crow said. “Some of the stuff I write is a spoken word/modern style and some is more traditional. I tried to send in two pieces which covered a broad range of preferences.”
“Trip to the Back Woods,” which ended up being the overall winner, is about a day Crow and her friend spent on an undeveloped tract of land. They picked black berries and really connected for the first time, ultimately becoming best friends.
Crow wrote the poem in about 45 minutes as she ruminated about the day. It’s been updated and changed since the first draft.
The second poem, “The Taste of the Word,” is a personal piece in which Crow explores her sexuality.
“[It’s about] me growing up and being able to say the word ‘lesbian’ instead of the word ‘gay’ because that’s how I identify.”
The poem was written over the course of two years and is constantly being updated. Crow suspects it will change some more.
While Crow generally writes poems for herself, she adjusted them so they could be understood by an audience.
As much as Crow enjoys writing poetry, it’s not something she’s going to pursue as a career.
“I do it for such personal reasons and as an outlet. If I had to do it under pressure, it would lose its meaning for me. I want to continue doing it as a hobby and possibly publish if offered the opportunity.”
Crow plans to enter the competition again next year, but she’d also like to introduce a poetry slam (a competition in which poets of all ages perform spoken word poetry) to the high school.
“I find it’s a really great outlet for me and a really efficient way to express myself.”
A trip to the backwoods
By Isabella Crow
Middle-school legs strawberry red, lacerated by reeds
the sun glowing overhead our teeth filled with blackberry seeds (your lips stained purple).
On this loud midwestern land, bugs and the hum of summer.
Our shoulders tanned as we ran back I asked you to slow down, you had dirt on your face.
We first learned how to be alone, together
my thick and clumsy first spoken word our feet hanging
out the back of your trunk red-winged blackbirds was there rain?
At the beginning of who we were and who we would become
two girls give themselves a crash course on how to love
