Shana Roark is a poet/street artist who goes by SuperGirlReject on Instagram. Late one night, while on a typical doom scrolling bender, the algorithm decided I needed something more pure and joyful in my feed. It served me up videos of this young lady interacting with strangers and creating heartfelt poems. So, I watched one video. Then two. Then more. I was smiling, tearing up and completely taken by the concept.
In 2019 — with loneliness as her catalyst — Shana set up a chair and a table topped with a vintage, manual typewriter loaded with handmade paper on a NYC corner. She displayed a sign that said, ‘Custom Poems Written For You. $55.’ There she began creating poems for strangers on demand.
“I was new to the city, and I felt alone,” she says. “I was tired of all the vapid conversations, so I thought, maybe if I offer people a poem, they’ll open up. Maybe we can talk about things that matter. Things they couldn’t say otherwise.”
Since then, curious folks will walk up and offer a subject, relay a story, or present an abstract idea of some kind. After a brief conversation, she takes a moment and starts typing. Locked in, the words flow with seeming ease and her skills as a typist shine thru as well. The results are these impressive pieces of a moment that speak directly to the recipient and indirectly to the casual observer.
As someone who recently began writing again after too long of a hiatus, I struggle with chronic writer’s block. Watching her offer these deeply personal and creative poetic gems spontaneously time and time again — with simple input from strangers — is inspirational. I once considered employing a similar tactic in my fiction, but didn’t have confidence in it’s effectiveness. That’s changing.
I’m also impressed by her tenacity and courage. Interspersed with moments of delight are interactions with rude busybodies and sanctimonious killjoys trying to tear her down. They ask why she’s there. They tell her she can’t be there. There are examples of the offensive stereotypes we’ve let social media normalize. Yet thru it all, she stands her ground and the art continues.
I’ve yet to make the trek across the river to meet Shana, but it’s something I plan to do soon. In the meantime, if you too cannot make it into NYC, you can get a poem thru her website shanaroark.com delivered to your home. If you can make it in, find out where she’ll be and book time with her.
“I became a witness to people’s darkest days. Their secrets. Their joy. Their heartbreak. Their most treasured stories. And I tried to capture what they gave me, translate their truth into a poem, into art.”
“At first, I thought I was helping them. But eventually, I realized, they were healing me. The interactions were so raw, so real, it was addictive. I didn’t even want to go home. They gave me their story. I gave them a poem. A piece of my heart.”
Remember; Words are powerful. Use them wisely.
Links:
SuperGirlReject (Instagram)
shanaroark.com
