Every Last Word

The day has come for Samantha to read her first poem as an official member of Poet’s Corner. Samantha is nervous but prepared as she makes her way down the gray hallway underneath the theater and into Poet’s Corner: “My palms are sweaty and my heart’s pounding, but it feels similar to that moment before I dive off the blocks, so I’m pretty sure it’s positive adrenaline and not the first sign of a panic attack” (141). Everyone files in and settles in their seats. Chelsea begins by reading a poem she wrote in her car last week entitled “Over You,” which is about getting over a romantic relationship that has ended. Abigail takes the stage next and reads a poem entitled “As If,” which was written in science class. Abigail’s poem is about faking confidence because of insecurity and finding her voice onstage as a poet: “Ironic, isn’t it?/The only time I’m not/Acting ‘as if’?/When I’m on stage” (146). When Abigail finishes, Cameron and Jessica join her onstage. Jessica announces that, as a group, the three of them will be performing “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe as a rhythmic spoken word performance, accompanied by the stomping and clapping of the audience: “[Jessica] slaps her hands against her legs, starting the beat—Left-left-left-right, left-left-left-right, left-left-left-right—and she keeps it going while the rest of us join in” (147).