The Word That's Missing

This anthology is a collection of ekphrastic poetry written by 12th grade students at the High School of Fashion Industries in Manhattan. Ekphrastic poetry is a poetry of description, in which the poem must surpass that which it describes.

After studying sources from theatre and film, these young writers used poetry to describe stories and scenes, themes and motifs. The resulting poems explore small moments and grand events. They mine the minute and the hidden for what is most significant. They search the cataclysm for what has been forgotten.

Not only do these poems transcend their sources, but in an effort to find the word that will describe and surpass, in an effort to find that word that is missing, they transcend ordinary language and invent new ways of thinking, speaking, and seeing the world.

From "The Word That’s Missing":

Just as you have the right to her conversation
the very words that leave her mouth,
the gasps in between,
her ability to articulate perfectly.
The moment she pauses to think,
you are deserving of that thought.
Although it may,
bind weights to her feet
that ground rather than plant
cause her head to hang
with the heaviness of thought
-Kaila Santiago

Proceeds from the sale of this book benefit 826NYC, a nonprofit organization encouraging the exploration of endless possibilities through the power of writing.