Pip
I am a boy and an Islander.
I live with my sister Kinchen and my Uncle Ren on the Islands.
I wonder about life beyond the Islands.
I hear the fish’s calling my name Pip, Pip, Pip
I see familiar faces of creatures who live under the ocean’s surface.
I want to be independent, but not sure how?
I’m as awkward as a fish out of water.
I am a boy, an Islander, a brother, and gifted.
I question why the Raft King needs me to save to the Raftworld.
I feel as if the water in my body is talking to the water in the sea.
I taste warm, fresh bread loaves with seaweed.
I worry that I will never get to see Kinchen and Uncle Ren again.
I excel in talking to fish.
I understand the ways in which the Raftworld people live.
I am a boy, an Islander, a prisoner and a brave soul.]
I say “People need to live their own lives and make their own choices” - pg. 271
I believe my ‘eye problem’ is just something different, something that makes me who I am.
I dream of traveling the world to meet new sea creatures.
I try to remember people and their faces, but fail.
I hope that I can change the Raft King’s mind.
I was once a boy who wanted to hide from the world.
But now I want to learn how to talk to people and and understand them better.
I am an islander, a boy, a prince of the sea, and an explorer.
- A Crack in the Sea
The Persona Poem that I have written above is from the perspective of Pip, a boy who struggles with talking with people, yet he has an extraordinary hidden gift --- he can talk to sea animals. This is the same boy who was isolated and sheltered from the world by his sister, Kinchen who thought he could never do anything on his own. This is the boy who finds himself caught between two worlds -- and is forced to find his voice and a sense of acceptance in a place that seems strange to him. He is the boy who finds the courage to save the people he loves -- by closing the crack in the sea.
I wanted to do a persona poem about Pip because of his dynamic character --- by how his perspective about himself and on the world changes through his experiences in this story.
My process for writing this poem started with looking back on my notes on Pip's character and to thinking about how I could walk into this 'wardrobe' of persona poetry. In other words, how can I walk through this sliding glass door into the second world -- in attempt to understand the complexities of Pip's inner world (...).
So, I started by also looking back thorough the text to try on and borrow the appropriate attire and tools in order to move through that sliding glass door better outfitted and equipped to inhabit the Pip's world (...).
“Writing lets us think of things we didn’t know we knew until we began writing” --- Rief (2007)
As I was writing and putting together the pieces of this poem -- I also tried to keep in mind the underlying contemporary issues (e.g. forced migration, refugees, the making and remaking of families) and themes (e.g. the power of “story” to reveal truths and provide hope, along with the courage to take action) of the story A Crack in the Sea and how those ideas relates to my focus character Pip.
At the beginning of the story Pip was a boy with no voice, who was shy, awkward, sheltered, and ashamed of his disability. Considering this first impression of Pip's character, I wanted to highlight it in the beginning of my persona poem. The purpose of choosing to only mention my 'first impressions' of Pip's character in the first stanza of the persona poem is to setup the structure of the poem to change in a dynamic way, just like Pip did in this story.
As I continued to add more lines and stanzas to the poem, I wanted to not only highlight Pip's dynamic change in character, but also to mention his thoughts, feelings, and experiences that have helped to shape him into the character he is at the end of the book.
For instance, I feel like a major turning point in the story for Pip was when he was captured from his sheltered world by the Raft King -- and he was forced to navigated a new world on his own. In addition to adjusting to a new world -- Pip is left battling his internal feelings of fear of the unknown to feeling like his was free to make his own choices. However, it is through these external and internal battles where Pip begins to view himself and the world around him in a more positive light.
To focus on some of the key changes on Pip's viewpoint of himself and the world, I decided to give Pip more of a voice in the last stanza. In doing so, I chose to include a quote from the book -- when Pip spoke up in a group setting for the very first time and voiced his opinions about how people should have a choice to live their life the way that they want to.
“People need to live their own lives and make their own choices” - A Crack in the Sea (pg. 271)
Pip's thought process here shows how his perspective about a world where people are making decisions for others people, is no longer okay. Also, how Pip considers it to be important for people to make their own choices and have their voices be heard, including his own voice.
References
Bouwman, H. M. (2017). A crack in the sea. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat04042a&AN=app.b8212593&site=eds-live&scope=site
FRYE, E. M. ., HARDIN, B. L. ., BOUWMAN, H. M. ., & STUMB, A. E. . (2018). Walking Into the Wardrobe and Through the Sliding Glass Door: Writing Persona Poems with A Crack in the Sea. Voices from the Middle, 26(2), 46–52. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=133712987&site=eds-live&scope=site