We Are Not Tied Down By Time
We Are Not Tied Down By Time was written by the students of Franklin Dual Language Academy in 2025
Introduction
A found poem, spliced together from the work of Mary Oliver by the student authors of this book:
What is it
Tell me
Everything in the world comes
It is your life
The blue air
The pink light
Meet them at the door laughing
Wild and precious life
I venture to say that writing poetry does not come easy to most people. Certainly not for me. It is a tall order to dig deep and transcribe what we find inside our hearts, minds, and souls onto a blank paper. Especially in just a week. Yet, that’s just what the student authors of this publication did.
For five dedicated English classes, the middle school authors experimented with three types of poetry and themes: found poetry describing a childhood memory or an imaginary time capsule; haikus celebrating their current obsessions and loves; narrative poetry mapping their vision for their futures.
We invite you to read, and as you do, discover where the students have been, where they are, and where they are going. Nico O. captures the essence of this book well in his poem Forever, “Beginning, middle / end or whatever happens / I am always me”
-Maddie Silva