West county student named Sonoma County’s first Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador

“Poetry gives people a way to understand each other on a deeper level than they would otherwise,” said Sabine Wolpert.

EZRA WALLACHJUN 13

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Sabine Wolpert, a rising senior at Analy High, was presented as Sonoma County’s first ‘Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador’ during a Sebastopol Center for the Arts event on the evening of June 9. The recognition came after Wolpert finished as the runner-up for the county’s Youth Poet Laureate position in back-to-back years.

“To be eligible for the award, young poets between the ages of 13 and 19 submit an application where they send us their poetry and also tell us about their lives, why they’re interested in poetry and what poetry means to them,” said California Poets in the Schools (CPITS) Director and Sebastopol resident Meg Hamill. “The whole idea is that by giving the young poets these titles it allows the community to look up to them in a certain way.”

Hamill said that Wolpert’s eloquence, poise and commitment to her craft inspired her and the judges to create the new “ambassador” position. As past Youth Poet Laureates have been invited speak at various events around the county and lead workshops with younger students, Wolpert hopes that those same opportunities to contribute to the community will be available to her moving forward.

“I want people to know that my door is open,” she Wolpert, who lives in Occidental. “I’m not exactly sure what this role is gonna look like yet, but I’m just excited to collaborate with other people and reach out to other youth. I’m totally happy to do whatever.”

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Wolpert’s passion for poetry and the arts has been evident since elementary school when she first started writing, and in recent years she has branched out to participate in the Poetry Out Loud recitation competition. She also expresses herself through music and painting.

“Poetry makes people examine their own thoughts and emotions about things,” she said. “Although emotional literacy isn’t necessarily taught, poetry is a really good way to convey those same ideas—to have young people examine their thinking about things and then look at other people’s thinking about things. It’s a way to understand each other on a deeper level than we would otherwise.”

As for Wolpert’s own thoughts and emotions about things, here’s a medium length poem she sent to us:

Reappearing
They come back again,
>From the darkness,
Because , I can see them emerging from the walls,
Because , I can hear the way they are all consuming,
Because , why are they back?
Why are they reappearing?
I sat in that office so many times,
And on the floor,
And on the stained carpet with salt stained cheeks,
And all for them to be gone,
And I thought they were extinct by now
Surely I thought,  
The surly faces of my unidentifiable selves had left by now,
I thought I was at peace by now?
Because, I have pinched myself so many times,
Was I never dreaming?
I guess again,
Second guessing always killed me,
Or maybe it is only their reappearing,
Or maybe I am just sinking back again,
Or maybe the dripping fire we call stars is
actually
just
an imitation.

Anyone interested in utilizing Wolpert’s talents can contact her through Meg Hamill at meg@cpits.org. Hamill says that CPITS plans to continue awarding two Sonoma County teenagers with Youth Poet Laureate designations in the coming years.

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