There's No Place Like Hartford by Liz

I enjoy writing poems. Poetry is a way to express my feelings and thoughts in words. At the age of nine, I was introduced to the world of poetry and since then I have always liked the same kinds of poems. I like poems that are very descriptive and expressive but at the same time are suggestive. I only started writing my own poems at the age of ten. Most of my poems are written in Spanish, but then I later translate them into English.

When I wrote this poem about Hartford, I was thinking about my audience. I wanted to bring Hartford alive for people who have never been here. Most places have a distinct smell or sound and I wanted to express that in my poem. I also wanted to focus on the variety of cultures that we have here in Hartford.

When it came time to print my poem, I chose old-fashioned colors that you might see in an old map or manuscript. I am very attracted to things that are old or old-fashioned looking and I wanted bring that to this work. However, my drawings are really abstract and sort of modern. I liked the idea of combining the old with the new. I wanted to illustrate my words but not draw anything specifically representational. My poem mentions many senses, so the drawings are interpretations of those ideas.