This fall seniors from the High School of Fashion Industries’ “Film and Drama” elective participated in an in-schools residency with 826NYC on the topic of ekphrastic poetry. They went to plays on and off Broadway, watched films from near and far, and then used poetry to describe stories and scenes, themes and motifs.

The resulting poems were published in the collection, “The Word That’s Missing.” Their works explore small moments and grand events. They mine the minute and the hidden for what is most significant. They search the cataclysm for what has been forgotten.

Not only do these poems transcend their sources, but in an effort to find the word that will describe and surpass, in an effort to find that word that is missing, they transcend ordinary language and invent new ways of thinking, speaking, and seeing the world.

We would like to give a special shout-out to the 826NYC teaching artist who ran this program, Cameron Crawford, as well as to the volunteers who supported the students’ work. An extra-special thanks is also due to our all-star partner teacher, Rebecca Levine Eisenberg. Her classroom is always welcoming, lively, and endlessly supportive.

An excerpt from “The Word That’s Missing”:

Just as you have the right to her conversation
the very words that leave her mouth,
the gasps in between,
her ability to articulate perfectly.
The moment she pauses to think,
you are deserving of that thought.
Although it may,
bind weights to her feet
that ground rather than plant
cause her head to hang
with the heaviness of thought
–Kaila Santiago

To all the authors in this book, thank you for sharing your words with us.

You can purchase a copy of “The Word That’s Missing” at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. or online here.