Lincoln Prep Student Wins Poetry Contest at PoeFest Facebook Twitter Email This Post Lincoln Prep April 3, 2024 Lincoln Prep is celebrating the amazing achievement of 8th grader, Lena Gyamfi, who submitted the winning poem of the Student Poetry Competition at the Phoenix PoeFest. This writing competition was open to all Arizona students in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Gyamfi learned of the contest at school. “My [literature and composition] teacher had a poster in her class for four months since the beginning of the school year,” said Gyamfi. “She kept encouraging students to enter.” She decided to enter right before the deadline and we are so glad that she did, enabling her to share her poetry with a state-wide audience. For the competition, students were asked to create poems that mirrored Edgar Allan Poe’s distinct style, with themes of love, horror, and death. Poe, born in 1809, was an American writer, poet, author, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism and Gothic fiction in the United States, and of American literature. While Gyamfi admits she wasn’t familiar with his work before the contest, her poem, “The Pain of the Heart” captured the essence of Poe’s technique. “I was just in class and words began to form in my mind, so I put them down like I usually do,” she recalled. “[The poem] is about the pain people usually feel when they go through a heartbreaking situation, whether with a partner, or with their family, or any kind of situation. Usually, people go through a lot of pain and sometimes they’re not able to express themselves.” Gyamfi emailed her submission and two weeks later she received a response telling her that she had won the competition. “It was very exciting. I jumped around my whole house and went crazy,” she said. Enjoy Gyamfi’s award-winning poem below: The Pain of the Heart In its own A wonderful dome Yet being abused Continues to be misused How that is possible Only you know it’s plausible Darkness and doom Shrouds with gloom Pain of the heart Would rather be hit with a dart Pain isn’t fun And cannot be undone To avoid it Is your best bit But then, desperate Is worse or is bait Would rather the pain take Stronger and do make Chilly shivers Tears flow like rivers Keep away, food, water All in the name of the pain of the heart Love, after all is blind Or I should say, it is bind Mixed with pretty follies Cuddles with mean dollies I do, yet I don’t believe love But the pain of heart, from above. Congratulations, Lena! We look forward to seeing many published works from you in the future. Do you have a story or know of a story that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts? Please contact jmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.