Harry S Truman High School Poetry Contest/Scholarship 2026

Students, Parents, and Staff,

My name is Mark Harder. I graduated from Delhaas High School in 1978. I was never a poet until I had a heart attack and stroke on February 1, 2018. As a result of the stroke, I have aphasia and low vision. I couldn’t speak, read, write, or process spoken words. I couldn’t drive, so my brother, John, a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School 1971, would take me to the aphasia conversation group, lunch, Home Depot and Lowes’. I told him that I was trying to write poetry as a therapeutical activity to cope with pain, loss of words, and low vision. We both laughed but John encouraged me to work hard on my speech and language. 

In honor of my brother, this is the Harry S Truman High School and John K. Harder RESILIENCE IN VERSE POETRY SCHOLARSHIP. 

Judge Hannah Hornsey, graduate from the Communicative Sciences and Disorders at New York University and poet said, “…super strong metaphor of the river shifting from a challenge to something that the speaker uses to her advantage, made this a very successful poem.”  

Judge Kathryn Paulson, a seven-year Traumatic Brain Injury survivor and a member of the Thursday Night Poets at University of Brain Injury Alliance of Wisconsin, said, “Great metaphor with a different twist. My favorite line was " the river no longer dragged, it carried".

Judge Carmen Fought, Professor of Linguistics at Pitzer College and poet said, “We all felt we could identify it with the experience of being afraid of something or ending up in a difficult situation and then finding that there were joyful or beautiful things there also. We all loved the metaphor of the fish guiding, and the moment when the current changes from dragging to carrying the speaker.”

1)  Where Rivers Change - Christyangeli Luciano

2)  How Does it Feel? - Daviny Delia

3)  A Tender Madness - Cristian Saint-Eustache 

Honorable Mention:  Joselin Ortiz-Pulido, Ryan Capaldi

The river’s imperfections; never one exact pattern,

the river’s solemn quietness, unlike any other.

She wished to jump over the river

In order to escape what lay beneath the surface.

She leaped as high as she could,

but it's free-flowing water grazed her feet.

She plummeted way too deep.

In its current, she drifted,

caught in whirlpools of moments,

reflecting onto the fleeting clouds of her past.

A journey stronger than the current,

but even in the chaos,

a quiet strength grew.

The current no longer dragged;

it carried.

The river stretched towards the ocean so vast

where the waters meet, but salt and freshwater divide.

One side: a murky brown.

The other: a shimmering blue

She had feared the other side.

The panic, too loud.

The doubt, too heavy.

Little does she know that maybe the grass is greener on the other side,

she never knew that the water there could be clearer,

the sky more open.

The freshwater fish guide her through the current,

knowing their limits,

and stopping before they meet the salt water.

Once she crosses the line into something new,

a new journey of discovery will begin,

with no freshwater fish to guide her.

And yet with bravery

she crosses.

The line blurred behind her,

and ahead: no guides, no guarantees.

Just her.

Learning, Fending, and Becoming.

In the saltwater,

she is no longer just surviving,

she is discovering.

The river didn’t drown her.

It led her

to a new current,

a new self.

A future

she never thought to dream of.

Students, Parents, and Staff,

My father’s name is Mark Harder. He graduated from Delhaas High School in 1978. He was never a poet until he had a heart attack and stroke on February 1, 2018. He has aphasia and low vision. He couldn’t speak, read, write, or process spoken words. His brother, John K. Harder, a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School 1971, would take him to the aphasia conversation group, lunch, to Home Depot and Lowes’. My father told him that he was trying to write poetry as a therapeutical activity to cope with pain, loss of words, and low vision. They both laughed but John encouraged him to work hard on his speech and language. 

This is the Harry S Truman High School and John K. Harder

RESILIENCE IN VERSE POETRY SCHOLARSHIP.  

Judge Hannah Hornsey, graduate from the Communicative Sciences and Disorders at New York University and poet said, “the poet did a great job of choosing vocabulary that was powerful but worked sonically as well.”  Judge Kathryn Paulson, a seven-year Traumatic Brain Injury survivor and a member of the Thursday Night Poets at University of Brain Injury Alliance of Wisconsin, said,” I would definitely encourage all of the writers to keep writing and to keep submitting their work!” Judge Carmen Fought, Professor of Linguistics at Pitzer College and Poet said, “Out of all the poems we received, this is the most complex in terms of craft.”

#1 - Untitled (Rain Drop):  Wren Morales

#2 - Mother, Father Farewell:  Kathleen Olsen

#3 - The King and the Pawn:  Deion Wu

Honorable Mention

Jocelena Maldonado-Fox,

Jacalyn Clarke

Kyana Townes