She Would Draw Flowers: A Book of Poems by Kirsten Savitri Bergh

This book of poetry is so incredibly heart wrenching and powerful. The book is comprised of poetry and drawings from the journals of Kirsten Savitri Bergh published by her mother after she passed away in a car accident at the age of 17. She and her family were from Minneapolis and she attended the Minnesota Waldorf school. The writing is absolutely beautiful and her language is well beyond her years. Because the poems weren't written necessarily to be published, the poetry is just that much more raw and emotional. You can really tell what an amazing, articulate and artistic person she was. She writes about everything from something as mundane as lime jello to the passing of her father when she was 16. She was also a student abroad in France and some of her poetry includes elements of French. This is also a wonderful example of the ways free verse poetry can be just as affective as any rhyme scheme. She not only writes from her own perspective but from many others--a practice which I think all poets should exercise. She even includes an Ars Poetica (poem about the process of writing poetry) called "Beginning Barefoot." I would HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone who is interested in poetry or someone who wants to try poetry but is intimidated: this is a great entry to poetry and it is by a young person. So inspiring!

Kirsten's mom, Linda provides more information about Kirsten on this wonderful website. Happy reading (and surfing!)