• By STEVEN WARD
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Oct 31, 2009 - Page: 1B

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Before Friday, 17-year-old Trey Thompson had never stood in front of people to recite one of his poems.

But all that changed for the Dutchtown High School student when he was one of a few students picked to read a poem he’d composed only an hour before during a writing workshop at Southern University.

Thompson read as if a seasoned poet: “Get like the Trueness of the Truth, get like a world without Drugs, and there is no such thing as gang bangers, thugs, crips or bloodz, get like when my grandma said they could sleep with windows open, and not have to worry about a thing.”

Thompson said he was nervous but loved reading his poem.

“I was shaking, had butterflies and it was an adrenaline rush. But I want to do it again,” Thompson said.

He was one of about 200 middle and high school students from Baton Rouge who gathered at Southern University to participate in WordPlay Cypher Day.

WordPlay is an offshoot of Baton Rouge’s Big Buddy Program and was created in 2005 to increase literacy and self-expression outlets.

The students listened to some spoken word poetry by local poets and then broke off into writing groups to compose a poem in less than an hour. Then some were chosen to recite their creations in front of the other students.

Anna West, WordPlay’s project director, said WordPlay now has spoken word poets working with area students in 11 schools.

“It’s about creating a literary arts culture in our schools,” West said.

She said WordPlay holds a monthly poetry slam in Baton Rouge known as “Fresh Heat.”

West said about 300 students attend each month.

“Some adults have a preconception about what teens do. We have never had a fight (at a Fresh Heat) in four years,” West said.