Saratoga graduate’s work published in Australia

A flutter of pink in a large city, a girl hurries through the rain and hops into a cab.

Capturing this image in her poem “The Taxi,” 2011 graduate Raven Sisco became an international poet early this year when Rabbitpoetry, a journal of poetry based in Melbourne, published this poem.

“I actually had no idea this was an adult publication, so when I found that out I was very surprised!” Sisco said. “I consider it an honor to have been accepted.”

Sisco wrote the poem last year under the instruction of former Saratoga English and Creative Writing teacher Judith Sutton. The two first met each other when Sisco enrolled in Sutton’s Creative Writing class in 2008.

“When I was young, I loved to read, which naturally inspired a love for writing prose. When I had to choose an elective for my sophomore year of high school, I saw that Creative Writing: Poetry 1 was offered,” Sisco said. “Because I did not know very much about poetry, I was very curious and decided to take the class.”

According to Sisco, she enjoyed many aspects of the class, including performances and the opportunity to work with other student poets.

“As I became more and more exposed to poetry, I fell in love with the form and had to continue the class,” Sisco said.

Through the Creative Writing program, Sisco discovered her passion for English.

“When I began my sophomore year of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a career. By my junior year, when I was taking Creative Writing: Poetry 2, I realized that teaching English really was my calling,” said Sisco, an English major at San Jose State University who wants to teach high school English.

The Creative Writing elective was canceled after Sisco’s junior year because of low student interest in the course.

“It’s a tragedy that the class was canceled, because without it I probably wouldn’t have found my niche,” Sisco said. “The fact that it’s gone is very saddening because I know that kids are missing out on the opportunities it was able to provide for me.”

Nevertheless, Sisco and several other poetry students were able to continue their poetry studies when Sutton offered to teach them outside of school. Since then, Sisco has had multiple poems published in journals such as “The Mad Hatter” and “The Storyteller.”

Sisco has continued to study with Sutton and to experiment with new forms. Her poem “The Taxi” was a the shape poem in which the poem’s text created the shape of a taxicab.

“I decided that I wanted to do some kind of car, and I thought it would be cute to make the car a taxi”, Sisco said. “I’m proud of this poem because I was able to keep all of the images I wanted in the poem within the limit of the shape.”

According to Sisco, her poem deals with the joy of life.

“I wanted it to be whimsical and playful, but still contain some big city imagery,” Sisco said. “The message of the poem is that life should really be spent having fun and being happy.”

Sisco believes that Rabbitpoetry selected “The Taxi” because the poem is “definitely fun and unique, something [she] personally wouldn’t expect while reading a shape poem.”

Sisco expresses gratitude for Sutton’s poetry program for her success with Rabbitpoetry.

“I’m very proud of myself, but this achievement also makes me very thankful for the program, my teachers, and my peers in the class,” Sisco said. “Everybody in the program has inspired me to be a better poet and to try out new things, such as a poem in the shape of a taxi!”