Emotions. We all have them. Yet each one of us has a different way of expressing them. For senior Erica Mange, that mode of expression is poetry.

Mange first began honing her poetic skills in middle school when she was assigned a poetry writing assignment. After receiving positive affirmation from a teacher on her work, Mange continued developing her poetry independently.

Currently, Mange uses her poetry to clarify and further understand her emotions.

“It’s a good way for me to get my emotions out on paper and understand my feelings through writing,” Mange said.

Though Mange maintains her poetic abilities as a side hobby and only shares her writing with close friends, her passion for writing has continued to grow.

“You’ve got to have passion to write—that’s what makes a good piece. So you’ve got to feel in a certain mood so you can put that passion on paper,” Mange said.

Because Mange’s writing is triggered by moods, she doesn’t have any sort of writing schedule or step-by-step process for her creations.

“I don’t really have an inspiration. It just kind of comes when I’m feeling a certain way; I just start writing. The mood comes before the writing. I don’t force the mood. It’s just like when I’m in that mood, I write [because] it’s like an extension of the mood,” Mange explained.

For the time being, Mange’s talent has flown under that radar because she hasn’t made her poetry widely accessible. Still, her portfolio of poems is growing—maybe someday soon we will be able to read one of her original compositions.