One of Jennifer Swanton Brown’s last events as Cupertino Poet Laureate was the “Write Your First Poem” workshop, held Thursday, October 8, 2015. Fifteen people came to the Cupertino Library Story Room for a fun and interactive workshop. A few people were there writing their very first poems, and a few were old timers from the community, looking for some new inspiration. All went away with poems, and from the smiles on their faces, a good time was had.
These photos are of the exercise Jennifer did to warm up the crowd, the poem they wrote as a group from random words (chosen from Jennifer’s “word bowl”) and the prompts offered to tempt first time writers.
One of the first time writers was Yana Gulati, an elementary school student from Cupertino, who came to the workshop with her mother Elisabeth Merkle. Yana has given us permission to post her poems here, both in their first rough draft form and her typed second drafts. (I have a sneaking suspicion that Yana is not really a first time poet…)
Enjoy Yana’s poetry and please, Cupertino, keep writing!
Why?
Why part for tomorrow, when you can do things today?
Why go back in the past when you can live in the present?
Why have a world with worries when you can have a carefree world?
Why would you have wrinkles when you could be young and frolicky.
Oh yes, there are many “why’s” in our planet.
Lies
Lies? Why tell lies about rushing when you say you got stuck in traffic, but you actually lost your pet rat Cinnamon.
Lies, Lies, the more you tell, the guiltier you get.
Why tell lies about loving spinach leafs, but when you eat them you spit it out.
Why tell the lies, the guilty, guilty lies instead of being truly honest.
Cupertino Poet Laureate 
I was able to write about my mother who recently passed away, Very meaningful. Thank you, Amanda.