POETIC TEENS SAVOR WORDS OF OWN WORLD.

Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer

VALENCIA -- Bowman High School students turned their well-groomed school yard into a Bohemian playground of poetry and art Tuesday as they celebrated the end of the school year and their gift for the spoken word.

For nearly two hours, teens with two-toned hair, black nail polish and sunglasses read their poetry, including odes to boyfriends' ex-girlfriends, co-workers and Klondike bars. They wrote mainly about their experiences in life.

The event also marked the introduction of ``Chocolate and Gossip.'' This collection of poems by students in creative-writing classes is the 14th literary magazine published by the school.

``Once you walk through the door of poetry and you're really there, you're not the same,'' said creative-writing teacher Richard Weekley as he introduced the parade of readers.

Students from Weekley's class were the ones who took center stage Tuesday as each showcased a poem or two written during the semester. The creative-writing class focuses heavily on poetry and the process of writing it. During the year, students learn from the masters as they study the writing styles of major poets of the past century and how they approached their work.

Once a month, the classroom is transformed into an imaginary coffeehouse where students stand before a microphone, read their work and practice their deliveries.

One of those students is Carissa Duprey, a senior who is experimenting with writing and drawing. Wearing a long flowing skirt, she pulled it up on one side to show a tattoo on her leg. She had first sketched the image, a skull, and showed it to a tattoo artist who reproduced it on her skin in black ink.

In one poem she read Tuesday, the 18-year-old had written that words can be meaningless -- tasting of gelatin and chalk -- if there isn't anything to back them up. Writing is an outlet for her feelings, she said.

``It's a good way to vent,'' she said. ``If you can't talk about something, you can get it out on paper.''

Wearing all black, 17-year-old Caesre Garcia spoke to his peers about depression in the suburbs and popping prescription pills to remedy it. Ideas for his poems come from watching people.

With a pack of Post-it notes tucked in his pocket at all times, the high school senior said he writes down interesting things he sees during the day. There's a stack of these people- watching notes on his home computer, and he pulls from the pile when starting new poems.

``I never miss the opportunity to write something down,'' he said. ``If you don't, you miss it.''

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

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Kristi Mason is among those participating in the annual Day of the Poet readings Tuesday at Bowman High School in Saugus.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer