Melissa Martin sat across from me last week at North Kingstown High School and broke my heart wide open with her stories, her hopes and her dreams.

“Missy” remembers sitting next to her mom at age 5, and writing for a first-grade poetry contest what would become her first published poem. She recalls the words spoken to her by Beth Letti, a school counselor who said that “if I wrote out my problems on paper I’d feel better about whatever the subject or situation was.” Missy took those words to heart and began to write her poems.

Melissa is no stranger to loss and grief. Her parents, Doreen and David, are divorced, and she struggles with the changes within her home. Her beloved grandmother, Doris Hunter, became clinically blind, depending on Missy to be her “eyes,” and then, within a few years, died. Missy’s cousin, Jason Cardente, was killed in a trolley accident in Providence.

All of these losses would have left any of us bruised and reeling. Melissa wrote her way through it, seeking respite in poetry. Her words speak of the human need for approval and unconditional love.

In her poem “I Tap” she writes:

On the other side of the glass

I tap

On the other side of your world

I tap

From the other side of the universe

I tap

I want to get your attention

I don’t have to tell you reasons why

Just tap back and stare in wonder.

Melissa’s poems have been published in the literary insert “said and done” that’s part of the North Kingstown High School newspaper, The Current Wave. She dreams of enrolling in the City Year program after graduation next month. She wants to be a “paid writer” and hopes to find an internship this summer that will offer her the opportunity to work with fellow writers and poets.

“The Accident” is the poem Missy submitted to The Poetry Corner. It is based on a dream she had after her cousin’s death in April of last year. She e-mailed me explaining that she and Jason had grown up together and were “more like brother and sister than cousins. Everyone who heard of his death was crushed by the news.” She never had the opportunity to say goodbye to him, and felt she could do it through her poetry.

And so I bring her poem to you, in hope that you will recall how vibrant and scary and turbulent the world seemed when you were 18. Or perhaps simply be reminded of your journey through grief and loss.

Either way, I hope Melissa Martin’s words will touch your heart as they did mine.

Poetry Corner is a twice-monthly column featuring South County poets — people who live here, work here or are from here.

The column is curated by Lynnie Gobeille, a Wakefield poet who can be reached at lynnieg@live.com.

Poets whose work is selected will need to sign a release giving The Journal permission to print their work. We are not able to pay for the poems.