For OPRF Student, Words Are a Way Out

Raven Hogue was a grade schooler at when she started jotting down poems on paper, just some scribblings designed for no one else's eyes but her own.

As life at home got tougher — her parents were fighting; her little brother was acting up, causing trouble in Maywood — she needed an outlet.

Now 17 and a junior at , she's found her saving grace in spoken word poetry.

"Performing is hard because I'm very shy," she said. "But once I get up there, it's just important that they hear me."

Her work, Scaffolding, was among the entries at a recent Louder Than a Bomb teen poetry slam. The performance is documented in the YouTube video accompanying this story, as well as in a special session for the WBEZ website, which is showcasing entries from this year's competition.

Scaffolding began as three separate works eventually pared down to one with the help of the high school's spoken word club.

The poem's subject matter is intense, fraught with absentee parents, a brother who's taken to illegal graffiti and a big sister caught up in all of it. And while Raven and her brother Brandon have been subject to the same domestic turmoil (We share eardrums – our parent’s voices nothing but hisses and sparks) the siblings have very different reactions.

"Our outlets are different," she said. "[My brother] likes to get in trouble. I like to do more positive things."

For Hogue, 17, the attention from the revealing, heartfelt work has been bittersweet.

She said her mother is proud of the accomplishments and creativity, but "she doesn't really approve of the content I put out there."

Her father hasn't seen it. Raven said she doesn't want him to.

Kevin Coval, who created the teen poetry series, has said the competition is designed to

Asked if her foray into spoken word has helped her cope with what's happening at home, Hogue said "Yeah, of course. When you perform, it's like afterward it changes you."

"People come up and say 'I love what you said' or 'You made me cry.' People are hugging you," she said. "It's just love."