Monarch School Student Poems Exhibit: More Odes to Common Things

Monarch School students' books of poems on display at San Diego Central Library

The Pauline Foster Teen Center at SD Central Library is hosting an Exhibit of Poems by students from Monarch School published in the students’ More Odes to Common Things book series on April 1 - 30. An online version of the Exhibit will be viewed on the Video Wall in the lobby and in the Virtual Travel Center on the 5th floor.

Attend the students´ Open Mic & Discussion on Tuesday, April 16.

The poems express appreciation for everyday items and other insights into how simple things influence complex lives. Topics range from odes to the sun, moon, and stars to celebrations of Dickies workpants, GI Joe, and Pig Latin, among other things.

Since 2018, 124 students have had their poems published in More Odes to Common Things. Volume VII is due out this summer. The students were inspired by the work of Nobel Prize winning poet Pablo Neruda who wrote more than 250 poems in his popular Odas Elementales (Odes to Common Things) series.

Monarch School nurtures resilience in unhoused youth and their families, empowering students to influence their own growth in the areas of academic success and social emotional learning.

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