Bella Trent, a talented and powerful
young poet from Portland, recently used her command of language to
challenge her audience's assumptions about people with disabilities.
The 16 year-old, who was born with arthrogryposis,
a rare condition that keeps her joints locked in place, recently won
Madison High School's 10th annual slam poetry contest with
an impressive performance of her poem, “Cripple”. While seated in
her wheelchair, Trent prompted the audience to face their prejudices
by addressing stereotypes attached to people with disabilities.
“A great part of poetry is to be able
to really show people that I can be more than they see,” says
Trent. “It's a great opportunity to go beyond skin.”
As someone who has used either crutches
or a wheelchair her whole life, Trent is often looked at as a quiet
wallflower, but as her poetry shows, she has quite a bit to say, and
she isn't afraid to say it. Her mother, Jessica Trent, confirms this,
saying that her daughter has never been meek or shy. Watch her recite
this amazing poem and you'll see that Trent has no problem holding
back.
This poem is honest, relevant, and
poignant—certainly not what one might expect from a 16 year-old
slam poet. I mean to say, it lacks the contrived, overwrought tropes
that many of my high school peers relied on with their poetry. Pretty
impressive. Give it a look!
She and runner-up Reuben Cottingham
will perform at Verselandia! on April 29th along with
poets from nine other high schools in the Portland public school
system.
No comments:
Post a Comment