Teenager Persephone Marshall will launch her first book of poetry, called ‘Things I Never Said Out Loud’, on 11 July.
The book is filled with heartfelt words of friendship, love, heartache, isolation, betrayal, personal reflections, and a connection with nature and animals.
Persephone, 18, who has a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis that causes tumours to grow in the nervous system, says the poetry allows her to express the feelings that she cannot always talk about, hence the book title.
The first page reads, “To everyone out there who is struggling and slowly healing, this book is for you”.
In the foreword, she explains, “I am writing this book because I have spent too long bottling up my feelings and not telling anyone. I also want to write this book to relate with other people’s feelings and let them know they are not alone.”
She says she has always enjoyed creative writing and poetry, and considers them an outlet for her emotions. “My writing helps me express my feelings more than when I am trying to speak my feelings. Words have a lot of power,” she says.
Until last year, Persephone attended Cayman Prep & High School, where she completed her GCSEs. She is now doing homeschooling while preparing to sit final exams. While at Prep, she was the recipient of the Arthurlyn Pedley Award for Community Action Service, which is given to the student who has made the most significant impact to community service.
She has volunteered with the Kiwanis, taking part in beach clean-ups and helping the environment. She also works with Cayman Acts of Random Kindness, or ARK.
Persephone has also been involved in equine-assisted therapy, where horses are central to participants’ therapy, at the Equestrian Centre, spearheaded by Kristy Van Den Broek.
There, the young poet has bonded with her therapy horse, Beau, and she has written a poem about him in her book, titled ‘There Once was a Horse’, which reads, in part:
‘There once was a horse
Called Beau
He was my everything.
He would hug me
When I needed a hug.
He would calm me down
When I was frustrated or fed up
And giving up on everything.’
She hopes to raise awareness of the work of the equine-assisted therapy programme through her poetry.
The launch of ‘Things I Never Said Out Loud’ will take place at The Living Room, Harbour Walk, (next to Allora), from 1-3pm on Saturday, 11 July. All are welcome.
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