Literary Riot: Liquor, My Father’s Other Daughter

In collaboration with Get Lit: Get Lit – Words Ignite unites classic and spoken word poetry to empower youth and inspire communities. By engaging youth in literature in and after school, Get Lit allows teens to become engaged in their own futures and unearth their potential. "Claim your poem, claim your life.”

Ashley Biggs
Larchmont Charter School, 14 years old

“Moonchild” by Lucille Clifton

Why did you choose your classic poem?
I chose “Moonchild” by Lucille Clifton because it was a poem that I personally connected to. Not because of the molestation part but because moonchild is a symbol for people who are born in the month of June and I am technically a moonchild. I really resonated with that and I liked how the poem sounded.

What inspired your response poem?
“Moonchild” is based off of what she (Lucille Clifton) wanted to say to her father and there were a lot of things I wanted to be able to say to my father that I didn’t necessarily know how to. So, this poem was basically everything I ever wanted to say to my dad.

Do you feel the Get Lit program has helped you open up and express your feelings?
The Get Lit staff definitely helped me express how I felt about this topic because I always was very afraid to talk about it or felt like it was an awkward thing to talk about so I just kept it in. But being able to write my feelings down on paper and speak to people in a way other than just blatantly saying it helped me.

Do you feel the Get Lit program has given you strength?
I do feel like the Get Lit program gave me strength. They gave me the strength to open up about things I was scared about. They gave me strength to understand that in poetry there are no limits and if there is anything you ever want to talk about, you are free to talk about it.