The Wilson Post
LEBANON WEATHER

Green Hill High School freshman Mackenzie Romer creates honesty on paper




Green Hill High freshman Mackenzie Romer recently won two awards in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for her poetry and memoir.DALLUS WHITFIELD

Green Hill High freshman Mackenzie Romer recently won two awards in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for her poetry and memoir.DALLUS WHITFIELD

Though Mackenzie Romer was in class and missed the live recitation of “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman, the youngest inauguration poet in U.S. history, at President Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony last month, she quickly rushed home to see a repeat of what she said was an “amazing moment.”

A young poetess herself at age 15 – her birthday was Feb. 1 – the Green Hill High freshman already also has made quite a stir in the world of poetry and memoir writing.

“I didn’t get to watch in school, but did later that day,” said Romer of soaking up a re-run of Gorman’s recitation at the inauguration. “I was stunned as I watched. I absolutely love the spoken word of poetry. It was phenomenal and she’s such an inspiration to me. It’s so nice to see poetry appreciated at that level.”

Romer recently won two awards in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards through the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. She was given the Gold Key Award for her poetry collection, and the Silver Key award for her raw and honest memoir “Out of the Closet.”

Ryan

Ryan

And, yes, that memoir title foreshadows the personal experience Romer penned about sharing with her parents in seventh grade that she is bisexual. Her award-winning collection of four poems are words stringed together in such a way the reader feels they are reading Romer’s soul in print.

“Six Years Old Again”, “Liquid Happiness”, “Fragments” and “To Places With Less Rain” affected the judges so much they sent the collection to New York for the national level contest.

Journal always close at hand

“Yeah, my journal is constantly in my school bag,” said Romer, who lives in Mt. Juliet with her parents and brother. “If I’m in a place where I don’t have my journal and I get an idea, I just make a note in my phone until I can write in my journal later.”

She started journaling in the seventh grade. It was a pivotal year in so many ways for this young woman who is introverted, but also has been a force on the soccer field since the age of 3.

“It’s two different parts of my personality,” she said. “It’s a creative part and the more sport-oriented part.”

Romer was part of the SEEK (Students Exploring and Expanding Knowledge for high-level students) program in middle school.

“I did a lot of writing of essays in that program,” she said. “But I never took a writing class.”

Her close friend and cousin, Jordan, told her about an elective creative writing course.

“I really wanted to take that course,” she recalled. “I love writing and everything I want to do is creative. It’s where I can be most honest and expressive. I’d rather go to that place for escape.”

Rachel Ryan, the honors English and creative writing teacher at Green Hill, explained her memoir writing course is not what people think of established people writing their life’s story.

“I tell my students is not a life story, but a story from your life,” she said. “A stand out moment in your life thus far.”

Romer is a student in Ryan’s course and she decided she would write a memoir about that “stand out moment” in her life.

“Her writing for her age is incredibly powerful,” Ryan said of Romer. “She has a knack of not saying too much. Her voice is strong and clear and it connects with the words.”

The ‘Out’ experience

“I do write most of my poetry huddled up, over the course of time,” Romer said. “They are ideas that turn into words in my brain.”

She said her teacher told her to pick a piece, a life moment in time.

“I remember it vividly,” Romer said. “I was brutally honest, it was a point in my life, a turning point. I knew I was bisexual when I was 13.”

She said she had a crush on a girl.

“It was a light bulb moment, it was acceptance,” she said. “I found a lot of friends in the community. They were nice and kind.”

Each student was required to read their memoir to the class.

“It was emotional and I was really nervous, I really didn’t know those people,” she recalled. “But the students were wonderful. Some said they were bi too. It all was really lovely.”

“My daughter has been writing forever”

Mackenzie’s mother, Laura Romer, said her daughter has always been an avid reader.

“I was too,” said Laura. “She’s even deeper. I used to tell people I went broke buying books. In elementary school, she would walk from class to class reading a book.”

When her daughter revealed in the seventh grade that she is bisexual Laura said it was “difficult” for her and her husband.

“We are Christians,” she said. “I don’t judge others. She is my daughter. We have always tried to show her we love her and we always will.”

Green Hill principal Kevin Dawson said Ryan is the first-year school’s only creative writing teacher.

“She’s a good fit for us,” he said. “She teaches her students to grow and learn and express themselves.”

Romer said she’s sure her future will “all be in writing.”

“I may move to New York eventually,” she said. “I hear New York is great for writers. Of course, it’s terrifying, but exciting.”

She has three journals worth of poems, and streams of consciousness to pull from now and later. On the side, she’s managed to attain a black belt in taekwondo, and she loves her brother, Andy, who recently starred on the school’s bowling team. Her dog, Nibbles, lives up to his name and she plans to grow with her accepting “lovely friends.”

As she awaits news of a possible national placement for her poetry next month, she’s immersed in a short story contest entry that could win her a spot at a summer writing program.

“It’s a short story, 1000 words,” she said. “It’s due in March. I’ve already written the first draft.”

She revealed it’s about a person with “internal struggles, loss and regrets,” she said. “I like writing about internal struggles, even my own.

You became my home

Your words wrapped around me like walls

Your arms formed a roof

i leaned into Your embrace

and listened to the rain outside

which sounded too far to reach me

You became more than my home

You were an architect

Your words built my foundation

you’re beautiful

concrete surrounds my bones

you’re loved

the first brick is laid

You Are Valid

a roof extends over me

it blocks out the hate

it blocks out the rain

all i can feel is Your love

mix with concrete

to form my structure

now i am my home

legs extend from me

so i can take myself

somewhere

anywhere

but here

–Mackenzie Romer

Leave a Reply