100% Me
Image
100% in love with her Gospel music
in the AM & the PM.
100% present from the soul.
When I am stressed and depressed
I just put on some type of gospel song
that I really like and my spirit is back
I’m in that happy mood again
and peace is back.
— Betty Jackson,
Edgewood Village, Akron, OH
Travelingstanzas.com
Created by The Wick Poetry Center
Sponsored by Ohio Arts Council
Poem by Betty Jackson
Design by Mia Owen ©2020
Betty Jackson, a resident of Edgewood Village in Akron, Ohio, wrote this poem in a writing workshop—a collaboration of Edgewood Village, Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority and Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center—led by Wick Poetry graduate fellow and MFA student Isaiah Hunt.
Her illustrated poem, and an audio recording of her reading it, can also be found on the utility box at Summit St. (by the traffic circle) in Kent. The Traveling Stanzas downtown utility box project is one example of the partnership between Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center and Main Street Kent to bring art to people’s everyday lives.
Share Your Voice!
In partnership with the Wick Poetry Center, Kent State Magazine features a poem in each issue. To see more poems, visit travelingstanzas.com. To submit a poem, email magazine@kent.edu.