“Story of All Stories,” by A. Vaughn
Every day this week, The Imprint is publishing the winners from this year’s Words Unlocked Poetry Competition. The contest is held each year by BreakFree Education, and features the work of students in juvenile facilities around the country.
Today we feature this year’s First Place winner: “Story of All Stories,” written by A. Vaughn at Hogan School in Missouri.
Story of All Stories
A boy hard but unknown like a forgotten book
Judged by the skin that covers his body
Instead of the knowledge he holds deep inside
The book is cherished by crimes and built in pain
From only fifteen pages of his story
The book is left in the trash for its dangerous chapters
Surrounded by several books with different covers but equal stories
So who is he to judge the others
Who is he to determine the next books chapter
Or how another books story should, could, or would end
Some books descendent from slaves
Others descendent from masters
Brave ones sacrifice their ending for a new story on a better shelf
For opportunities and a chance to be read
Peace will help write new chapters for better endings
If each book respect and embrace one another covers and stories
Forgive the past endings and history
Each book has their own dreams and journeys awaiting
As well as problems and challenges to face
Why not give the helping hand that is desperately needed
Why not love more than hate
Books that were trash are now treasure
Books that were treasure are now trash
But they will always have their forgotten stories
The cover is only temporary
The pages and chapters are forever
This year’s winning poems were selected by a group of 35 volunteer judges. The final judges for the Words Unlocked Poetry Competition were a group of distinguished poets and essayists that our friends at the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.
The theme for this year’s competition was “Coexistence:”
“Existing together and at the same time; living in peace with each other. The strength of human bonds, across different backgrounds and divides, is powerful. While we cannot choose whether or not to live with others, we can choose how we want to do so. When we embrace tolerance, respect, and forgiveness, when we focus our relationships on shared meaning, we find success.”
BreakFree Education’s mission is to radically improve education in the juvenile and criminal justice systems by investing in the potential and dignity of all its students. To learn more about the Words Unlocked Poetry Competition and BreakFree Education’s poetry-writing curriculum for juvenile facilities, click here.