Drawing on her experiences as a teenager, North Shore High School junior Lucia Cagno published her first poetry collection, “Daffodils and Dandelions,” which features about 60 free-style poems.
Cagno said she first started writing poetry in her freshman year when she joined the poetry club. She said she always enjoyed writing independently but hadn’t consistently written poetry before she participated in the group.
“I definitely have always had a passion in writing,” she said. However, poetry was “something new” to her.
Cagno said she was first inspired to write the book when she saw two yellow flowers next to each other: a daffodil and a dandelion.
“They’re both treated very differently,” Cagno said.
Despite their similarities, a daffodil is treated with care, while dandelions are unwelcome weeds. Even though there is a difference in how they’re perceived, there’s an underlying sameness between the two, she said.
From there, Cagno said she began organizing her poems by two themes: feeling unwanted and feeling cherished.
“No matter if the reader feels beautiful, unwelcome, or somewhere in between, this collection promotes the message that we are all the same,” the collection’s description says.
Many of her poems draw from her own experiences, Cagno said. The book’s description says the collection captures the “good, bad, and best days as a teenage girl.”
Cagno said she looks to writers like Sylvia Plath and Rupi Kaur, as well as other authors she has read in the poetry club. Even though Plath writes in a different style than her own, Cagno said she enjoys reading her work and finds inspiration in it.
After completing her collection, Cagno started the process of independently publishing her work. She said the process took about three months and the book was officially published in November.
Although she has a strong passion for English, Cagno said she’s drawn to many of her science classes as well, and is considering going to medical school in the future. No matter what she pursues, though, she said she wants to continue writing.
“I do want to continue that after high school,” Cagno said.
“Daffodils and Dandelions” is currently available for purchase on Amazon.
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