WAUKESHA - Heyer Elementary School sixth-grader Trevor Monasterio
doesn’t consider himself much of a writer, but he does love
history.
However, when he saw the Titanic exhibit at the Milwaukee Public
Museum, he found his muse and unleashed his hidden poetry talents.
"It’s amazing to think about all the people who died there
and to see the artifacts they brought up from the ship," he
said. "And you could feel the iceberg and find out if you lived
or died on the ship, and it was just an amazing thing."
Monasterio’s fascination with the exhibit and the tale of the
Titanic is now being recognized by the museum after he turned his
thoughts into a poem that was voted the best in the area.
After they visited the exhibit, his teacher Sara Gagnon had her
students participate in a poetry contest where they wrote two poems
about the Titanic.
Monasterio decided to take an onomatopoeia approach to his poem,
titled "The Sounds of Her Death," using words that
describe noises of the ship sinking.
He said he spent several late nights during the week the poems
were due trying to figure out how to present the Titanic tragedy in
his own words, but in the end he wanted to present it in a way that
captured the essence of the events.
"I have all these different noises in my head and it’s
like a jungle in my head," he said. "When I use (the
onomatopoeia) approach it gives me a chance to put these noises and
the jungle down on paper."
The poem beat out more than 150 submissions from across the metro
Milwaukee area and will be published in the organization’s
magazine. Monasterio will also get to read his poem at a special
awards ceremony May 18 as part of the International Museum Day
festivities.
Gagnon said she was very excited to see one of her students win
and show off his talents.
"I’m just so proud that he won. He had such beautiful word
choices in it and I was taken aback," she said. "He has
gotten an experience in the sixth grade that he’ll probably
remember for the rest of his life."
Although his poem has won an award, Monasterio said he hasn’t
felt more of an urge to write in his spare time. But, he has gained
more confidence.
"If I put my mind to something I can do it," he said.
"If you be yourself, you can succeed."
