National Student Poet Recognition for Marcus Burns
For Marcus Burns, a junior at St. Johnsbury Academy, poetry has been a significant part of his life since middle school, thanks to his English teacher, Mr. Glazer, who introduced him to the works of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and W.B. Yeats, among others. The importance of poetry to Marcus and his progress in the field became evident last month when he and four other high school students were named National Student Poets for 2024 by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.
The National Student Poet program, initiated by former First Lady Michelle Obama in 2012, seeks to promote poetry by appointing five national ambassadors. These ambassadors are selected from students who have previously earned a Scholastic Art & Writing Award for Poetry. Marcus, from Lyme, New Hampshire, and currently a boarding student, will represent the Northeast region. Like the other chosen students, Marcus will serve as a poetry ambassador for a one-year term.
During their term, the National Student Poets will serve as literary ambassadors, promoting poetry, literacy, and the literary arts within their local communities and regions. Their role includes organizing service projects, conducting workshops, and delivering public readings. Each Poet will also receive a $5,000 academic award as part of the program.
When asked why he would like to become a National Student Poet, Marcus replied, “I really love trying to get other people interested in poetry and my love for it and get more people interested and learning about poetry and the craft that goes into it, and what it can convey.” Because of that and to fulfill some of his responsibilities as an ambassador, Marcus will host a community service event in collaboration with a local library or museum. While the perfect arrangement has not yet presented itself, Marcus would like his event to be “some kind of fundraiser in order to help the victims of the summer floods in our community.”
These five National Student Poets were selected from high school sophomores and juniors who collectively submitted over 30,000 poems in the 2024 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. From this large group, 40 semi-finalists were identified based on their originality, technical proficiency, and personal voice. These semi-finalists were invited to submit additional poems and performance videos, which distinguished jurors reviewed for the final selection.
Marcus’ poem, Children of Heaven and Earth, earned a Gold Key and was nominated for the American Voices Award in the Vermont Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This recognition advanced him to the national competition, where he also submitted Breezy Point and Yiping’s Asian Market, a piece featured in this year’s SJA literary magazine, the Clear River Review. Marcus’ grandmother and her journey to America inspired the poem, which also won the Colwell Center Prize for Writing.
Yiping’s Asian Market
is the only place we can find rice flour.
An old and faded blue building,
The kind that appears long
because its facade is so narrow,
along with the shelves inside,
packed with the wonders of another world.
I like to imagine its crowded aisles
as those dense city streets I see in movies
where a sea of dark heads surges
beneath a web of power lines and lanterns,
neon characters I can’t read flickering like stars,
shouts I cannot understand cutting through
the sound and scent of street food sizzling.
We are not there. We are in West Lebanon,
the town in New Hampshire
where everywhere is named for somewhere else.
We are in Yiping’s Asian Market,
where the rising sun is replaced with fluorescent lights
that glint off golden calligraphy printed on paper bags.
Light bounces between Thai curls and Khmer zigzags,
Chinese brushstrokes, and the geometric lines of Hangul.
Words adorned with dots and dashes jump out to me—
My mother taught me them–bánh, tôm, and thịt bò.
Glistening in its bag like white gold, we find it— bột gạo, rice flour.
Back home, we’re cooking bánh xèo for Thanksgiving—
Sizzling crepes, my father’s favorite.
Grandpa boasts how he used to swim across the Perfume River
every morning, back and forth, the girls gathering to watch.
I see him out the window, bundled up against the Northern chill
As my fingers freeze, digging into the shells of shrimp.
He is walking around grandma’s tree, the young
and slender crabapple growing from her ashes.
He is pulling up the weeds around it, one by one, ripping roots
as I pull dark veins from the arched backs of the shrimp with my knife.
I suppose it’s the least he can do.
Her sacrifice brought us to America, something to be grateful for.
In her home by the banks of the river—
In the November woods she died trying to reach—
I pray she can smell the rice flour batter sizzling in the pan.
I pray she can hear our quiet thanks, wherever she is resting.
Jennifer Mackenzie, who has worked with Marcus as the school’s creative writing club advisor, said, “I can’t imagine a more fitting student ambassador of poetry than Marcus, and he is incredibly deserving of this national recognition! In his time here at the Academy, he has not only been an active member of Writers’ Block, the creative writing club, but he has galvanized other students to take part in poetry events and helped to arrange excursions into the community to celebrate poetry. As if that isn’t enough, he’s an incredibly talented poet himself, too!”
English teacher Angela Drew echoes Mrs. Mackenzie’s sentiments. “He is incredibly thoughtful and insightful. He brings amazing energy, curiosity, and perspective to every project he is a part of. I look forward to seeing his work as a National Student Poet because I know he will be fantastic!”
St. Johnsbury Academy Headmaster Dr. Sharon Howell said, “Being a National Student Poet is a huge accomplishment, and we are very proud to be part of Marcus’s poetry path. It’s a tribute to the teaching of folks such as Jenny Mackenzie and Angela Drew that Marcus has been able to embrace his love of the art, develop and grow as a poet, and feel that SJA is a place where poetry can thrive. Marcus is a leading member of what is something of a poetry movement here, and this honor will only give that more power.”
Marcus’ interest in poetry is evident in his actions and in every conversation he has about the subject. From the time he memorized 30 Robert Frost poems, to his turn as a National Student Poet, Marcus is the perfect ambassador and champion for poetry. As he said in his interview video for the contest, “I really enjoy sharing my love for poetry. It is very close to my heart, and I love sharing it with other people. Spreading more knowledge of it. I think poets should be heard.
