Recently, 17-year -old Tori Smith stood before a crowd at a poetry reading at Florence Williams Library boldly reading a poem she had written. No one would have guessed that when she was little she had a speech problem.
“I feel confident when I read my poetry, I want my voice heard and what I have to say heard,” Smith says in a thoughtful, measured low voice.
Smith began expressing her emotions and feelings through poetry, which, she says, has helped her adjust to life without her mom. Her mother, Arah Smith of Antigua, died two years ago from viral meningitis at the age of 39. When Smith was six, her father Cecil Smith, originally from St Thomas, died in a car accident at age 30.
Smith acknowledges she has gone through a lot of tragedy but she says she has a pretty strong personality. A senior at St Croix Central High School, she says Carter Francis, her life skills teacher, has been influential in helping her deal with what life has given her.
Smith was born in the Bronx, New York, and was living in Florida when her mother died. Local relatives brought Smith and her 13 -year-old brother Aaron to live in Water Gut Housing on St. Croix with their maternal grandmother, Cynthia Roberts. She said she had briefly lived on St. Thomas so she was familiar with life in the Caribbean.
“At first it was hard to adjust here but I had my memories, faith and poetry,” Smith says. She misses her friends in Florida and wishes she could call them more.
“God helps me, even though I don’t always understand him,” she says. “He is my sanctuary.”
Smith says she has been encouraged to write by teachers, family and friends.
“People have actually said they like what I write,” Smith says with a big smile. She writes poems for friends, family and classmates and she was given an award for the best narrative reading at a school program.
“Tori has a real gift for writing,” said Anna Marie Gordon, Tori’s AP language arts teacher. “She is studious and an avid reader and writer who has confidence in her work.” Smith says Gordon has been especially helpful encouraging her to pursue writing.
“I write about everything I see, and the reality of it,” Smith says. “I usually write in free style.”
She wrote “Sister’s Prayer” for her brother after their mother’s death. During the same period she wrote “Rain Drops,” a heartfelt poem about a guardian angel watching over a girl. “Regret” features self worth of boys or girls in bad relationships.
“Take a Walk” is a freestyle poem about the past and current fears of people. “Take a walk with the protesters for freedom, D. Hamilton Jackson and others on the cobblestones crafted from blood, sweat and tears of men and women who worked hard throughout the years. Today the loss of young lives is taken by senseless acts of violence too often displayed. We are now living in fear like our ancestors once did. I hope once again we can all be light- hearted and free.”
Smith said she would love to compete in poetry slams, readings judged by members of the audience. The poetry can be on current political and social issues, love, comedy and more. She hopes to get her poetry published in magazines and have it recognized by the public.
Smith knows one can’t always make a living at writing and reading poetry, so she wants to pursue a degree in nursing beginning at the University of the Virgin Islands and then transferring to a university stateside specializing in geriatric nursing.
“I want to make an impact and leave a legacy through my writing, and have people remember me for what I have to say in poems,” Smith says.
