iHuman Youth Society is a non-profit, charitable society operating in Edmonton, Alberta, which aims to reintegrate and advocate for at-risk youth by giving them access to various forms of artistic expression. The Society was born in 1996 when Sandra Bromley and Wallis Kendal involved a number of high-risk youths in the creation of the Gun Sculpture Peace Initiative, an anti-violence project that has been exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally (www.gunsculpture.com). iHuman now works with a core group of approximately 100 youth every year in a creative arts environment where the youth are given the resources and support they need to express themselves through artistic outlets such as painting, theatre, music, writing, film, video production and dancing. To find out more about iHuman and what they do, visit their website: www.ihuman.org

In 2001, 20-year-old Kirsten Sikora discovered iHuman Youth Society, where she began to work on sorting herself out emotionally and artistically. There they encouraged her to come out of her shell by offering her mentorship and free art supplies. Before long, she was working on plays (co-writing and acting), writing poetry, and painting with a vengeance. Kirsten has always been a poet, but at iHuman she found the courage to show her poetry to others who would value it. Writing has always been therapy, a refuge, and a survival tactic for Kirsten. She is currently working at iHuman helping other youth, particularly young girls, express themselves through writing and art. She is also working on publishing Sketch, a collection of work by iHuman youth to be published soon. Her début collection, Sundry: a book of poems, has just been released by Sextant Publishing, a division of Cambridge Strategies, Inc., in Edmonton. The following is a sample of Kirsten's poetry.

Where applicable, click on the media links to see clips from Blood Oranges: Love and Consumption, a film based on her poetry written, directed and produced by Kirsten Sikora (Starring Kendra Sherick, Music by Gail Olmstead).

Love - The word

Love
The word unfolds from my tongue
Only to be caught with my teeth and bottom lip
I wonder if this has anything to do with its nature
Does it spill forth from me and then I seek to capture it
Hold it inside
Maybe that's just me
Perhaps some pronounce it "luv"
The mouth slowly offering it Like a kiss
I've seen some mouths sneer slightly
Like the word dirties them
Certain lips smile when they say it
While others frown
This most slippery of words
It seems to get away from all of us
For even though it's the most over used word
Our lips giving it every second of every day
We still feel a lack
L. . . O. . . V. . . E. . .
Nothing in its construction belies its meaning
Yet that's the same with all words
Say something often enough it becomes empty
Meaningless
Love, like language, is born from memory.

Soul Window

Eyes flick downward
As something glib and cynical
Rolls off my tongue
On to the floor
Cringing, as I hear my own laughter
Hard
Sharp
Eyes flutter upwards
Lips pursed in a tight half smile
A grimaceI wonder if this is the same face
That once had cheeks sore from smiling
Endlessly wide
Eyes stare straight
Before falling flat
Glancing inward at the wreckage of self
Where bitterness and spite
Has collected, caked
Upon the joy that was once
So bright

For a Buoy

I saw you
Sensed a spark from the first
Something secret, sacred, soft
Soft
Like your baby-wide smile
That disarms me completely
Sucks the strength from my sadness
While your eyes
So bright, vivid, alive
Send joy-filled laughter bubbles
From my belly to my throat
Tickling my heart, pushing the corners of my mouth
Such is the beauty of your soft spark
I cannot bear to touch you
Why run my hands over your skin?
When it's the quality of your dreams I want to feel
Caress your hopes
Kiss your imagination
Spend all afternoon making love to your
Soft spark

When we were fierce

Once upon a time
We weren't afraid of anything
Holes in our elbows and knees
Dirt under our nails
Homeless, Restless, Aimless
An extensive wardrobe of adventure

Graffiti

Looking over this place
Where we made our lives from paint
Now covered in generations of Jiffy marker
Where eloquence and idiocy migle
With desperation and expression
Something you said once spies up at me
And I find myself staring hard at the space
Where you used to be

Diamond Girl

Diamond Girl
Sparkle and shine
Harder than anything
I cut through your densest metals
Yet your sharpest edges
Don't even scratch my surface
My possibilities are endless
I seem impossibly strong
That alone is your grounds for
Seeing/Exploring/Pushing
So recklessly to the breaking point of
My center
And when I shatter
You shake your head and walk away.

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