Since I am a writer I take my creative writing seriously. I am an avid poet and have written many poems. My poetic voice gives me the opportunity to express my views and beliefs in a unique venue where many people can have access to it. I have studied the craft of poetry from junior high until grad school and have developed my own style to captivate my readers so that they may enjoy and gain insight from my poetry. I think that poetry can be an outlet – especially for those who use AAC – that can let people see in more depth their life experiences. 

For me writing poetry has allowed me to discuss in great detail topics that I might not be able to convey my viewpoints in normal conversation.  Topics like disabled dating and sexuality or receiving personal care assistant abuse is not something you talk about in polite conversation. However, poetry gives you that opportunity to just put all those hard and controversial topics out in the open for people to see. It might be scary to write what you believe in your poetry, but I think that once you put it out there people will respect you for expressing your views whether or not they agree with them. This genre is good for people who use AAC since some people normally might not pay too much attention to what we have to say, but our poetry can give them an opportunity to engage our thoughts and feelings. 

During my undergrad work I was fortunate to take a series of classes from June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley. In those classes I learned a style of poetry that stressed minimal words but maximum impact. It was a poetry style that emphasized having a strong message without using elaborate and convoluted language. I think this style of poetry is well suited for people who use AAC because we can be economical with our words and still convey a powerful message. I tried to keep that style in my own poetry writing and I hope it shows in my first poetry book, A Declaration of a Body of Love. Poetry is an awesome art form and I encourage more people with AAC to engage in the craft.