Poem – The Etymology of an Accent
Alex is a grade 11 honours student at Queen Margaret’s School. He grew up moving back and forth between the island, Hollywood, and Atlanta for the first ten years of his life for his mom’s work and has since developed a love for travel.
In his own words: “I am a Cherokee two spirit trans man who is passionate about the field of medicine, specifically neurosurgery as well and English Lit. I am working towards an acceptance at the University of Toronto, and in my (limited) free time I have been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for the last four years. Martial arts has been a constant in my life through moves and upsets and I plan on continuing this journey throughout my life. I am fascinated by the duality of human experience, and tend to write about such drawing inspiration from authors such as Herman Hesse and Daniel Keyes.
This poem is a love letter to voice. Because I lived many places (one of them in the south) as a young kid, I have a tendency to code switch vocally depending on my location. I think this is not uncommon for people with a similar experience, but I can find it isolating. The following is a sort of lullaby to remember that every voice tells a story if you pay close attention.”
