The Story Behind the Poem: An Interview with Quinlan, Kingston and Aquila Gibson

By: Mark Hertzberger

Imagination is not the exclusive domain of the young by any means, but kids certainly possess the freshness of perception and unfiltered ideas that are at the heart of all creativity. That can perhaps be seen best with the young poets in the Gibson family: Quinlan (age 14), Kingston (9) and Aquila (7). All received honourable mentions in the youth category of this year’s inaugural Every Voice poetry contest and all are excited about the publication of their poems in the subsequent anthology, Roots Through Stone: Poems of Strength and Resilience.

Said Quinlan, “It’s great knowing someone has seen my work and taken their time to push it further.”

Their mother, Joanna, added: “It was surprising as well. These guys have written lots of stories over the years but poetry was a newer trial method for them”. Quinlan’s first “poem” at age five was in the form of song lyrics while Kingston and Aquila’s contest entries, at ages eight and six respectively, were their first poems.

All of their poems reflect nature in some way. Kingston’s poem was inspired by trail hikes and walks in the park. Quinlan and Aquila simply tapped into their streams of consciousness and let their thoughts meander. For example, Aquila was gazing at a vase of flowers when her thoughts drifted to the image of a fish in the ocean; thus “Fin” was born. Quinlan assembles ideas and images, with the title coming at the end of the process. Kingston, on the other hand, starts with a title and builds his poem from there.

How did they become interested in poetry? Kingston answered: “Mom read Jelly Belly to us!” This is a collection of “short, silly” Canadian poems that Joanna’s mom read to her as a child. She enjoyed these and wanted to pass them on to her own children. The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry was another such influence.  All of the kids try to make time for reading every day, with Quinlan making weekly trips to the library. Besides a shared love of reading, they have diverse interests. Quinlan paints in acrylic and watercolour and uses a 3D printer to create. Kingston loves the outdoors and writing, as well as playing basketball, volleyball and soccer.

As for Aquila, this is her first try at poetry but she has been writing and illustrating her own graphic novels for some time now. She prints them out, assembles them and sells them at garage sales. “They’re kind of like magazines”, she said.

Her father Collin nodded and laughed: “They’re sitting on coffee tables all over Stratford.” Even the late beloved musician Kelly Walker had one on display in his Italian palazzo, the ancient architecture contrasting with the new works by Aquila.

They all derive satisfaction from their poems. Said Quinlan, “When I finish a poem, I can read it all together and feel a sense of accomplishment; I can re-experience all those feelings that are in the poem.” He hopes that readers will immerse themselves in “Deep Thought” and feel “calm and observant.” He also has a healthy attitude about criticism: “Just because one person thinks that a poem is bad, it doesn't mean that you should feel bad about it. Like, it could be awesome for you, and other people just might not prefer it because of their personality.”

Aquila too enjoys reading her creations. She also hopes that the readers of her poem will feel “in the moment” and can imagine what it’s like to be Fin the fish swimming in the ocean.

Kingston feels happy and peaceful while he’s writing “in the zone.” He hopes the reader of “To Build a Home” will at first feel the fear of being alone in the forest, then safety and happiness, with “sunshine on (their faces)” imagining that home built in the woods.

That Aquila, Kingston and Quinlan are able to access their creative potential is not by chance. Said their mother: “I still have a love of poetry, writing and reading. We home educate our children and I parent through the lens of teacher in life as well as in academics. We make time to read and free-write every day as part of our ‘school’ time, but it has become part of our family culture. Most mornings we read to the kids or they read to each other. At night, we read chapter book stories. As a family we highly value making space for creative thought as we know it helps us tap into our own emotions.”

As a result, all of these young poets convey a quiet sense of confidence and are philosophical about their contributions to poetry.

Quinlan hopes the message in “Deep Thought” will remind his readers to keep on living and not give up even if things are hard: “Experiencing life and not ending things because that would be so pointless. Something could push through out of the waves, and then become the thing you set your eyes on.”

“Don’t run away or cut your string,

See what good to the world you can bring.”

"The Story Behind the Poem" is an ongoing series featuring poets recognized in this year's Every Voice community poetry contest and published in the Roots Through Stone anthology. Both are joint projects of Stratford’s Poet Laureate, the Stratford Public Library and Destination Stratford. Copies of the anthology are available at Fanfare Books in Stratford.