St. Mary’s Dominican High School junior Daja’h Saul was among the winners of the National English Honor Society (NEHS) sponsored November Poetry Challenge based on the theme of “Courage and Heroism.” Students and advisors from around the country submitted entries.
Saul said that although she doesn’t read poetry often, she found inspiration for her winning poem from the Edna St. Vincent Millay poem, “The Courage That My Mother Had.”
Courage and Heroism
By Daja’h Saul
If I had the courage of a lion
Then maybe I will finally stop crying
If I had the courage of a holy saint
Then maybe they’ll stop holding me back in restraints
If I had the courage of Martin Luther King
Then maybe one day I’ll fix my broken wings
If I had the courage of a knight
Then maybe one day I’ll learn how to fight
If I had the courage of a bird
Then maybe my voice will finally be heard
If I had the courage of the sea
Then maybe one day I’ll finally be free
If I had courage to any degree
Then maybe one day I’ll finally see
The wonderful life that’s waiting for me
The NEHS, founded and sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, is the only international organization exclusively for high school students and faculty who, in the field of English, merit special note for past and current accomplishments. Members of Dominican’s Veritas Chapter of the NEHS must have a 3.75 average in English and a 3.5 GPA. Dominican’s moderators are Charlene Ford and Kristin Thomas.
NEHS began a “poetry challenge” creative writing project to encourage and promote more writing. All NEHS members, students and advisors, are encouraged to submit poems from October through April of the current school year. Each month, members of the NEHS Advisory Council and Central Office personnel read and select the best of the entries. The best submissions are published through its social media outlets and collected in an online poetry journal. In May, two “poets of the year,” one from student members and one from NEHS Advisors, will be selected from the monthly winners; those two poets will each receive a $150 award and a certificate of achievement as accomplished NEHS Poets.