Local Poet Feature: Olivia Harper Wilkins

While visiting Dana Sauers' class at Delone Catholic High School in Hanover, I had the opportunity to meet many talented young poets. In the coming weeks and months I plan to continue to publish more work, but today I begin by featuring, Olivia Harper Wilkins. Harper sent me two poems in response to an exercise we did in class. I had each student pick a noun to describe themselves. Harper picked duct tape. However, after more consideration, she sent me the following pair of poems:

I have thought a lot about being "duct tape" over the past 22 hours. And I have decided, 'I am not Duct Tape':

I am not duct tape.

I am not two-faced,

sticking to one story

with the truth on my back.

I am not stubborn,

so stubborn to stick to myself

and not break free of my own beliefs

to accept

that some people are different.

I am solid, but I show only my true colors.

I am not red one day and green the next.

I am not a chameleon,

adapting to my surroundings to hide.

I am not duct tape;

I cannot fix everything.

Rather, I feel that I am 'Coffee':

I am that warm embrace

as I touch your lips

and comfort you

with bitter sweet aroma.

I will burn you

with the truth

when you neglect to take care

and sip carefully.

I am easy going

down for anything.

Whether you want me hot, iced, frozen,

I will be your friend.

Not only is she a brilliant poet, but Harper also has spent time reflecting on poetry as process and effect and reality. In her own words below, Harper discusses her inspiration, her work, and her influences:

I am inspired by the one million forty-seven things that seem to possess my mind on any given day. I make a lot of observations about things, especially those that are not fair or just. These things give me passion. Most importantly, though, I am inspired by my feeble attempts to be "poetic" that are matched by one or two pieces I feel meet the cut. For instance (I don't know if you recall) I won first place at the Reader's Cafe poetry contest last year with a poem I wrote entitled To Untitle. That piece, as well as another submission in the contest The World Needs to Be Reversed, which can be read forward and backwards with two different tones, are two that I am very proud of. I really was "once told not to write," so I challenged myself to write. To Untitle was a product of that. I was also challenged when hearing a prose piece that could be read forwards and backwards. I am inspired by challenges; that's when I work best.

I think that identity is a sole aspect of my work, even if not obvious. I am constantly questioning who I am. I feel like I know who I am, I just don't know how to describe it unless I really think about it. When prompted to describe myself as a noun, I had no idea. Many people said "duct tape" because I love duct tape. But upon reflection, I realized that I am not duct tape at all! I guess opposites really do attract in this case. For me, describing who I am is the great poetic mystery. Sometimes I feel like I could describe myself in too many ways. Poetry is a means of dividing and conquering that.

I have no idea who my favorite poet is. I find that I have a particular piece from all poets whose works I have been exposed to extensively. Or I have a specific reason. For instance, I love the song *Fin by Anberlin simply for its line "I am the patron saint of lost causes." I find power in that. I love "Rootbeer" by Dana Sauers for its simplicity and truth, as well as imagery. I love William Shakespeare's plays for their brilliance and mathematical structure. (I also love math.) As far as an actual classified-as-poet goes, I'll say Billy Collins. I fell in love with his work on page one. And page two and three. I never get bored of reading Collins' work. It is so true and descriptive and captivating. There is something peculiar about that man's work.