Beowolf Boast (An old High School English project)

I am Alyssa, eldest living daughter of Kevin
And distant kin of the horror-poet, Poe.

I had great talent as a young child,                      Passed down by my creative kinsmen,

Powers of wonderful word-work
And innovative imagery.

Others witnessed my wild growth;                       As I overcame father’s fine picture making.

As for my birthplace,
It was unpleasant, as was my father’s.

As I grew older, we grew tired;
My family moved from that merciless place

To a snowy, sad, almost still land,                   Where we grew penniless but stood tall.

Years and years passed, we grew bored,
Returning to the terrible town we bore from.

There, over years time, I met my challenge,
Fate itself; many of  my kinsmen perished.

I mourned and mourned, and mourned,
It seemed as if decades went by in my mind

But my talents grew stronger somehow,
Strong enough to fight the mind-monsters

That took constant control over me                     And my heart, but no longer!

I turned my demons into my will-work
And made my artisan ancestors proud.

I will  shape my monsters into poetry and art
And soon be as great as the raven-writer.