Last Day of @S_StoryFest '18, but Yesterday @akbar_offishio poem for @JasonReynolds83

Kim, Rebecca, the volunteer crew and the youth board are still in amazement of what has occurred at Fairfield University, Westport Library and will continue to occur today at Staples High School. Yesterday was simply one of the most amazing days I've spent as an educator, as so many wonderful writers were so willing to share their wisdom with Bridgeport and Westport youth, as well as teachers and parents across the state, and lovers of young adult literature. I will cherish the day forever and am so proud of all of the students, but will leave this post with the words of Akbaru Niyonkuru, who wrote poetically to present Jason Reynolds at yesterday's Saugatuck Story Fest Keynote.

The Power of Words

(For Jason Reynolds & The Stories Still To Be Written)

All I hear are words,
The warmth of the sun is nothing,
but words to my soul.
The fresh air of today
smells like words in my nose,
and in my brain
They go on and on
in unfinished conversations of the mind, 
“Hey, Akbar, Who do you think you are...
without words in your mouth,
Without stories to tell,
Without a festival of who we are together?” 

We are all connected by words. Ubuntu, I am, because we are.
A Long Way Down..
A Shorter Trek Up. 

Burundi. Tanzania. The United States. 

My words are like dreams,
that show me things about myself, 
Refugee camp, relocation, hope, representing the stones I have sunk into, 
They are the pool of my subconscious, the chapters we must all write together. 

Sometimes the words don’t add up
And all I have is chaotic nonsense
Strewn across a page
and sometimes, I forget them, 
these words, The way I sometimes forget my dreams. 

Hey, but for lovers of words, You, me, them, us,
We can craft them across the page 

To change the world. 

Books, Music, Storytelling
Sharing songs along the Saugatuck, for Connecticut to hear. 

And sometimes words are me and you, talking, 
Celebrating possibilities 
To chase away our ghosts, 
To be Boys in black suits, 

To become the greatest,
Because you are As brave as me. 

The words, These words Are for me. For you. 

For everyone.