“To get my book out there, I was told that I needed to perform my poetry. And I was like, ‘Um, no.’ I’ve been performing since I was 3, singing at church, in the school choir, and for different events through the years. I was comfortable with that. But I never wanted to physically give voice to my poetry.

“I’ve been through a lot in life. I thought that performing about it would make what happened even more real. But I’m in my 40s now. I’ve grown into myself. And I’ve learned that if you give it to the world, they can’t use it against you. I’m not ashamed of anything I’ve experienced.

“From that first moment I got on stage to perform my poetry, I just laid it all out there. The response after the shows was really positive. It led me to believe that it was greater than me being afraid to talk about what I’d been through.

“When I started, I was just Raquel Segura. In the poetry world, that’s too boring. So they call me Da Truth. I speak about real life stuff. God has blessed me to be able to write. I always thought my singing voice would be the way to share myself with the world. But I’d pick up a pen to write a song, and it would turn into poetry.

“I hosted at Houston Improv for two years as part of one of the first poetic groups to perform at that comedy club. I auditioned and was selected to do four shows for Super Bowl Live when the game was held in Houston. I also perform for a lot of private events, and I’ve done a few things at churches. Overall, I’d say that I’ve been pretty blessed to have such a big stage.”

— Raquel Segura

At Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital, where Raquel is a senior human resources representative, patients have requested her to sing at their bedsides. During the pandemic, her singing has helped to boost co-workers’ morale.

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• Poetry emerges from heartbreaking loss

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Overwhelmed by the daily COVID-19 updates, the stresses of four adults living together in a pandemic, and five pets beneath our feet, I am doing a lot of self-therapy with ink, specifically poetry. Poetry is my journal, my written reflections of riding an emotional roller coaster when yesterday feels more like hope than tomorrow.

Pandemic – Suspended

Across the street life moves
in the same strange distance
January didn’t demand.

Suspended, life on pause, I can’t
imagine tomorrow’s landscape
while spending all my courage on today.

Current events and history converge
on my doorstep, one too fluid to reach answers,
the other grumbling, “You never learn.”

Social distance, ironic unity of a world
using separation to fight an enemy
whose weapons are invisible.

— Susie Clevenger

Susie is an author and poet. See more of her work at susieclevenger.com.

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“I love animals. If I see a lost dog or cat on the side of the road, I’m like, ‘Oh, you poor thing. I can’t keep you, but I’ll shelter you for a couple days until I find you a home.’ I guess I’m just that type of person.

“That’s probably why I wrote this poem a long time ago called ‘Lost at Night.’ I had forgotten all about it. But when I was moving, I stumbled upon my poem book and rediscovered it. It was about a dog lost at night who can’t find his way home.

“I think I’ve always been a writer. But I’ve just recently decided to actually do something about it. I’m trying to get my words out there. So I thought, why not extend this poem into a children’s book. The lost dog meets another dog, and together they meet a cat. Then they all meet a duck. And later on, they meet two bluejays. They’re all lost at night, and home is nowhere in sight. Throughout their journey, they become friends. Then they finally meet a woman, and she takes all of them in. It’s kind of a sad story, but it has a happy ending.

“As a rescuer myself, I think the story carries a message about having a heart for lost animals. They all deserve a chance to have a home with someone who will love them and take care of them.”

— Maureen St. louis Nelson

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• She’s surrounded by a family of caregivers

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And you beam with pride when you hear that your 13-year-old granddaughter, Rachel, is a published author.

An eighth-grader at International School of Hamburg in Germany, Rachel has written a book of poetry, “Hidden In These Lies.” She says it’s a place where her experiences and dreams reside in the form of verse.

The post Young poet makes her grandmother proud appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I don’t usually start writing the beginning of a poem. I start in the middle and build around it. No matter how you approach it, you want every line to be impactful. You want to say something that will move someone.

“I feel like my best poems come whenever there’s a sudden change. I don’t adapt that well, so writing about it is very helpful. A neighbor recently committed suicide, and I wrote a poem that talked about some good memories and how we’re going to really miss him moving forward.

“I also write a lot about relationships. Starting at a young age I would really dive into my relationships, which probably wasn’t the greatest idea. But I’m in a much happier relationship now. I think you usually write about what you know, and I think I know about love. As much as a 20-year-old can.”

— EmmaLee Newman

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• Local poetry community making itself heard

The post Creating poetry helps her deal with change appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I started writing poetry in third grade. There was this writing competition at school, and I won first in state. But growing up, I didn’t think there were other poets around here because there really wasn’t a place in Baytown where we could get together.

“I started Dirty Bay Poetry in 2015. I performed on open mic nights at Cork Grinders, and I got a small group of people to come perform with me. Slowly we’ve been building. We’ve published two anthologies of local poets’ work. I think we represent the poetry community here very well.

“But with Cork Grinders recently closing, we’ve lost our home. We’re trying to find a new place that is willing to host poets on a consistent basis. If not, I’m worried that our local poetry community will start to diminish. I really don’t want to see that happen.”

— EmmaLee Newman

Related:

• Creating poetry helps her deal with change

The post Local poetry community making itself heard appeared first on The Baytown Project.