INTRODUCTION

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What are poets for, in such an age?

What is the use of poetry?

 

The state of the world calls out for poetry to save it.

 

~Lawrence Ferlinghetti,

"Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]"

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On May 2nd, 2025, we celebrated Poetry Outreach's 53rd annual Spring Poetry Festival, even as we all adjusted to a change in president and presidential administration, and a terrible new normal: the world in crisis. Our poets, from elementary school and beyond, felt this; they reacted and rebelled in the best way possible—with their words.

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One of our Honorable Mention poets, Vivian Bortree from Bronx High School of Sciences, wrote in their poem, "Island of Tears":

 

"Miles away from the world

lies the grinning island of tears.

Miles away, the island whispers,

'I am not welcome there, my dear."

 

Bortree's words encapsulate and amplify the displacement and fear many of us are feeling. Even some of us born here feel the need to escape. Bortree also addresses this in a particular stanza:

 

"The Powerful sea reaches out

to the lonely island of tears.

Rejoin the world, I'll carry you.

I'll bring you far from here."

 

But many of us feel "rejoin[ing] the world" isn't as simple as reaching out to the sea. We want to be part of the world, as well as be far from here, but how do we do that when many of us feel the shift in the world, the shift in where we belong? I do believe this is a question that not only our immigrant poets ask, but American poets ask. But even as Americans, aren't we all immigrants?

 

 

Out of the mouth of babes, 4th grader Juno Mazar, from PS 321 writes in his poem "My Wishes":

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I wish the world was a better place,

from earth, and all the way to space

I wish our bright blue ocean waves, was clear as glass,

with nothing even close to trash.

I wish the world was a better place,

from earth, and all the way to space

I wish everyone had a heart of gold,

no final breaths, my sadness would be sold.

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In a simultaneously simplistic yet complex way, Mazar captures what many of us want: for the world to be better, and thus absolve us of our sadness and set us free. Let us breathe. As Ferlinghetti writes in "Poetry as Insurgent Art [I am signaling you through the flames]": "… you are an American or a non-American, you can conquer the conquerors with words.."

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Let's keep conquering with words.

 

Thank you for your continued support of Poetry Outreach and our Poetry Festival; please join us Friday, May 1st, 2026 for our 54th CCNY Poetry Festival.

 

Special thanks to the Poetry Outreach team: Jennifer Buño and Gregory Crosby, as well as our Outreach Assistants.

 

Much love to Barry Wallenstein for creating this incredible program, as well as to Pamela Laskin for continuing the legacy, and continuing to be a champion of poetry and poets at all levels. We are forever grateful for all that you taught us.

 

Alyssa Yankwitt

September 2025