Imagery of trust and youth in darkroom poems
Collaborative Lawrence High School project pairs Angelia Perkins photography with Joy Clumsky creative writing. Students anonymously interpreted photographs by writing poems about perception, beauty, and identity, exploring emotion through vivid imagery and questions about value.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lawrence High School
Angelia Perkins
Joy Clumsky
Worn ball rolls past Lydia Windhouser on porch
A summer night scene unfolds with a rocking chair, pipe smoke, and radio voices as a worn baseball is pitched and finally rolls down the steps past Lydia Windhouser, evoking a quiet moment of suspense.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mother
Father
Birthday Whisper at the Graveyard Gate
A reflective verse by Chris Kelly describes October 13 as driving emotion. The speaker visits a grave, expresses grief, and softly greets a grandfather with a whispered birthday as dawn illuminates the burial site.
The Leaf and My Solitary Autumn Tearful Walk
A reflective poem by Jennifer Porter about a lone autumn leaf seen during a homeward stroll. The speaker empathizes with the solitary leaf, feeling shared loneliness and quiet sorrow as they contemplate the season and their own mood.
Smile Smile for Me Never Lose That Plastic Grin
Poem echoes pressure on a girl to pretend happiness under judgment. The speaker describes a world where others enforce perfection, forcing a plastic smile while warning of danger and vulnerability in a wolfish environment. The narrator, Ashlyn Buck, frames the tension between innocence and coercion.
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