Everybody has a poem to tell and write (although it may be a dying art form).  

Students from Vergennes, Montpelier, BFA, and students from Lake Champlain Waldorf school are no different.

On the afternoon of Sept 15, 2016 students from Bellows Free Academy St. Albans, Montpelier High School, Vergennes High School and Lake Champlain Waldorf gathered at Shelburne Farms for the workshop “Share Your Heart, Share The World.” 

High profile speakers included Naomi Shihab Nye (the internationally renowned poet flown in from Texas) along with skillful Vermont poet Geof Hewitt.

Hewitt, born in Glen Ridge New Jersey, has been mastering his craft since he was a teenager.

“I wasn’t having much luck attracting girls, so I started writing what I thought were sensitive poems.  Then it became a habit from then on,” Hewitt said.

Hewitt’s first written poem was called “The tears of separation.”

He wrote this as a high school assignment.

“I worked really hard on it. [Even so] my teacher gave me a “C-” on it. He missed the point of me trying to write like Edgar Allan Poe,” Hewitt said.

Hewitt took this experience from a young age and used it to fuel his desire to perfect his poetry.

One of Hewitt’s desires now is to spread his knowledge, and passion for poetry with a broad audience.

Lila Stratton (‘16) was one of the students in attendance at Hewitt’s workshop.

“When I was younger I liked to write stories, short stories because I’ve always loved reading and I love being transported to different places,” Stratton said.

But over the course of her scholastic career, Stratton developed a knack for poetry.

“The [experience] that I got [through the] workshop [was] pretty cool. I wrote about 3 or 4 poems today, and being around [the instructors] was amazing,” Stratton said.

Stratton cherished her experience through the workshop, and is now hoping to better her poetry skills even further.

“I hope to study [poetry] and show the world what I want to show the world,” Stratton said.
Hewitt’s love of poetry and willingness to share it has certainly affected some of the young minds today in a world in which poetry is considered “archaic.”