How appropriate that the third volume of Voices should be released on William Shakespeare’s 443rd birthday because, after all, it was The Bard who, all those years ago, breathed life into our language and made it elastic. Today, young poets at South Dearborn High School and beyond continue his movement by playing with their words, taking them by their foundations and shaking them upside down in order to find fresh, new meanings for them.

In these pages the reader will find poets who bend and shape, twist and reinvent words to say something in a way no one has ever said it before. Their work is often dark and disturbing because they are taking a stab, for the first time in their young lives, at processing the difficult issues of our time: lies and deceit, broken promises, homosexuality, suicide, abortion, and more. But they also have a light-hearted side. Sarah Ems actually composed “Written at Steak ‘n Shake” while eating there, and Jessica Hotko’s “House of A Million Memories” is an old-fashioned trip down memory lane channeled through Walt Whitman. She really knows how to channel the early modern poets.

But mostly in this volume I am struck by the students’ wordplay: the powerful personification of lips in Shakira Collins’ “Confidence” and her inventive rhyme, Reanna Kingery’s “red veined glaze” in “Addiction” and the sensuousness of her work, and Jackie Whitaker’s delightful use of alliteration in her Salvdore Dali-inspired “Sinking Ground.” I am also quite proud of Derek Baer’s never-ending hunger for experimentation in his work. He is always reaching for more and stretching his repertoire. He isn’t always successful and, in fact, one of his submitted poems was edited out of this volume, but his victory is in the inventiveness of his work. I am also pleased that Rachel Ambs has stuck with me as I constantly redline her work insisting that she make her poems more edgy and modern. She always goes back to the drawing board and pushes herself to be better. Of course, I am always amazed at Nikki Williams’ keen insights, her way of capturing little moments with big impact. And then there’s Jimmy Wenstrup who serves as living proof to The Poetry Circle that poetry is music and music is poetry. He sees himself as a musician, but we have converted him into a poet and a rather insightful critic.