((PKG)) A WORD LOVER BECOMES POET LAUREATE
((TRT: 08:36))
((Topic Banner: A Community Poet))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera/Editor: Mike Burke))
((Map: Haymarket, Virginia: Dumfries, Virginia))
((Main character: 1 female))
((Sub characters: 2 female; 1 male))
((NATS: Kim B. Miller and the crowd))
Hello, ladies. How is everybody?
Hi.
((Text-over-video:
Poet laureates are often chosen at the national level but smaller jurisdictions can name their own poets to inspire and represent the community.))
((NATS: Kim B. Miller and the crowd))

I'm Kim B. Miller. I'm a lover of words. Nobody wants to be silent. Yet so many are.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
I’m the first Prince William County Poet Laureate. I’m the first African American poet laureate for PWC [Prince William County.]
((NATS))
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
I'd say, I really got serious about poetry about 10 years ago. I was writing poetry before that. I found some old love letters that I thought they were poetic but they weren't really good. But when I got really serious about 10 years ago, it changed. The journey changed because I was interested in the imagery and how it felt and how it sounded and how it could touch somebody and change people's lives. Poetry is a all-encompassing, beautiful thing that people kind of tend to overlook. But I look at it as a way of expressing pain, joy, happiness and touching people with all your senses.
((NATS: Kim B. Miller))
Yes, we are that county where nature feeds beauty to diverse hues.
Families of trees welcome visitors.
Leaves bow and the arts bloom endlessly on planted dreams.
With over 40 local parks and one state park,
parks breathe here.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
I put my application in. The application includes you, including your poems with no names. So, the purpose of that is everybody gets poems with no names, so they don't know who they're judging. So, they can pick a poem based on they just read it and loved it. And then I included my project or things I would be doing once I became poet laureate. And I sent my application in and I wished for the best.
((Kelly Haneklau
Member, Prince William County Arts Council))
I think poet laureates bring so much to the county and to our world. They bring a connectivity amongst people. And their work really crosses over all types of people and all, you know, the diversity that's brought in through the arts themselves. I think it's a very important part of our life. And it helps people in so many ways that we are just unaware of, mentally, physically.
((Herb Williams
Arts Recreation Specialist, Prince William County))
She was mesmerized at the fact that this beautiful poetry was coming out and she saw the work that you were doing.
The arts in the county is a great benefit because it offers an opportunity for growth. Wherever arts are, growth and development is naturally either going to join or is going to be elevated. And I think that from the standpoint of Prince William County and its over 400.000 citizens, there's so much room for growth. And we just have to work hard to ensure that every corner of the county is touched by the arts in some way.
((NATS: Kim B. Miller))
So, this is a work in progress but I am getting somewhere.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
I write everything from free hand, which means I'll just write a poem, doesn't rhyme. I'm not a rhyming poet. I do have maybe one or two poems that rhyme but that's not my specialty.
((NATS: Kim B. Miller))
The song is missing its point.
The lines are lost.
No singer will pick up broken notes,
Playing background noise so silence is drowning,
swimming like an anchor.
My lyrics cannot be complete without the chorus of truth.
I write it into every single note.
No more short verses, no more sweet tones.
Let's scream.
Let's let pain escape.
Let's make sure that the sky touches my high notes.
Let the sun burn me.
Light was never meant to be kind.
It was supposed to hurt.
It's a reminder darkness is waiting its turn.
((Kim B. Miller

Poet Laureate for Prince William County))

I'm in love with haiku. And haiku are super short poems, 17 syllable. The original form is beautiful Japanese art. It started in Japan only on nature and flowers. That's what an original haiku is. But they also came with this beautiful thing called a senryu. And that's the form I fell in love with, 17 syllables, any subject.
((NATS: Kim B. Miller))
If you're not racing against yourself, you're on the wrong track.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
I also have Kimisms, which are my sayings. So, I just like poetry and writing and words, period.
((NATS: Kim B. Miller))
I like that one.
Sound is not heard when listening with judgment.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
My joy as poet laureate was to create a couple of different platforms. One was to get us on social media and on websites.
((NATS: Kim B. Miller))
((Courtesy: Kim B. Miller / Zoom))
Then, because COVID was here, I said,
((Courtesy: Kim B. Miller / Zoom))
“Well, you have to reach people online. You reach people where they’re at.”
((NATS: Zoom Moderator))
((Courtesy: Kim B. Miller / Zoom))
I think Jessica has her hand up. So Jessica, go ahead with your question.
((NATS: Jessica and Kim B. Miller))
((Courtesy: Kim B. Miller / Zoom))
What is most of your poems about?
Great question. I do a lot on relationships and I do a lot on parenting.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
Schools in Maryland and D.C., I've been critiquing students,
showing them how to do poetry, speak poetry, say it with passion.
((NATS: Kim B. Miller))
((Courtesy: Kim B. Miller / Zoom))
And whatever way you do your poetry is perfect. Doesn’t mean you don’t have to fine-tune it. I fine-tune mine every day. Doesn’t mean I don’t practice. I practice all the time.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
So, my platform was to go and touch people and explain to them, poetry is bigger than what you think it is. Because people still go, Roses are red, violets are blue. And I say that's not poetry. But poetry is huge. So, let's go with how huge it really is.
((NATS: Kim B. Miller and audience))
How much rain do you have to walk in before you realize you caused the storm?
((Courtesy: Kim B. Miller))
Speak caringly.
Like the soul you’re about to touch will be crushed by every syllable, every verb that you throw at them.
Don’t you know we’re all carrying baggage in different packages? Just because it’s in a Louis Vuitton bag doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
My motive behind my poetry and everything is the fact that I'm a Christian. I believe it's a gift from God. I believe it's one of those beautiful things that…I believe God is a poet. And I think it's really inspiring how we can take different words and use them to feed people. I mean, some people need food. Some people need humanity. Some people need love. Some people need connection.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
And then, when people say, you know, “Well, how would I go about being a poet?” or “How do I go about being a singer?” or whatever it is they were thinking about being. And I'm like, “You can be uniquely who you're supposed to be. But don't think you're supposed to be single-threaded. No one said you only have one talent.”
((NATS: Kim B. Miller))
Please recognize your accomplishments or you will label them failures. You got to be able to see you. And let me couple that with a Kimism. You will never count something as a victory that you did not count as a step.
So, when you're taking your resolutions and breaking them into plans and then breaking them into steps, you have to give yourself an acknowledgement for the steps you're making. I don't count it as a victory. But I need you to start counting your steps as a victory because if not, you won't recognize them. You will never count something as a victory that you did not count as a step.
((Kim B. Miller
Poet Laureate for Prince William County))
Look at all you have on your plate and then expand it.
If your dreams don't scare you, dream bigger.
((NATS: Kim B. Miller))
Any other questions? No? Thank you.
((NATS))