Worcester Poet Laureate & Youth Poet Laureate Programs

Oliver de la Paz served as Poet Laureate from January 2023 to December 2025. He earned degrees in Biology and English Literature from Loyola Marymount University and received his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Arizona State University, where he was a University Graduate Scholar Fellowship Awardee. De la Paz has since taught at several universities and is currently the James N. and Sally L. O'Reilly Barrett Professor in Creative Writing at the College of the Holy Cross.

As Poet Laureate, de la Paz used his experiences as a poet, as an educator and in the wider literary community to expand access to the arts in Worcester. He was a founding member of Kundiman, a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting Asian-American writing. He served two terms on the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Board of Trustees. Other recognitions de la Paz has been awarded include grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, an Artist Trust GAP Grant and a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts.

Before his appointment as Poet Laureate, de la Paz authored several collections, including Names Above Houses (2001), Requiem for the Orchard (2010), and The Boy in the Labyrinth (2019). In addition to his published work, de la Paz has dedicated his career to promoting literary excellence, community engagement, and education.

Song for the City - by Oliver de la Paz

City of knuckled brick and backlot prayers
to rusted spires and mill-town ghosts.

City where train songs braid the night
with their high whistle and clack.

Worcester, who wears history like a second skin,
patched and burnished by the hands of families

who stayed long until the shift ended--those who still
strike iron spikes into the shapes of hearts.

City whose streets are lined with the laugh
of old men on benches telling Woo-Sox stories

as children breathe their cotton clouds
into the ebbing winter air. City whose cars

slip through Kelley Square in a chaotic rhythm,
singing their hymns of near-misses

and unspoken truces. Worcester, whose pulse is
the rhythm of traffic and drum. Whose beauty

is red brake lights dotting the streets to usher
all into a new season. Whose poetry emerges
from the salt-stained sidewalks and in the neon hum
of diner lights where coffee is covenant

and where the poets and nurses sit side by side
watching the city arise in the steam of their cups.

And when the last snows of the season stop falling
over Union Station, city whose song is memory

settling in--echo of millworkers and immigrants
carving their names into the city's ribs. Echo

of youth and bloom, standing with their faces
to the sky. Standing with their eyes alight.

A distinguished poet, community activist, and long-time educator, Matos served as Worcester Poet Laureate from January 2020 until December 2022. Passionate about teaching, Matos taught Spanish and ESL for 32 years, including 22 years serving as a teacher with the Worcester Public Schools. Matos wrote and published 12 books and anthologies and founded several literacy groups and workshops. During his tenure at Worcester Academy, Matos created the Poem for a Cause workshop where he mentored students who wrote poems in Spanish and English translation. He was awarded the Worcester Latino Dollars for Scholars Vision Award, an Honorable Citation from the Massachusetts State of Representatives, and the Father Miguel Bafaro Legacy Award.

Worcester, Plural Mother - by Juan Matos

Alicia, young mother, with firm steps
crosses Kelly Square.
She is not alone. She knows it.
A web of people burns in the hours of this laborious city.
Sweating her life away at Table Top,
she sweetens her little daughter's days.
Far away
Alicia left the desert of despair.
Today,
full of dreams, she confronts challenging mornings,
harvesting hopes under the migrant sun
that warms her life.

Ameh, Thiang, Assad, Ngyen, Perez, Rodriguez,
Immigrant youths, despite their roots
conjugate colorful memories
in the common language they babble
in ESL classrooms
while polishing their differences with strange phonemes:
Woosta - Weesta - Weester - they say, and laugh.
Hogar - Nyumbani - Nhá - Home - they say, and cry.

Mrs. Benson and Mrs. Zenon plant spring seeds
in each new citizen's latent eyes. Plural sons and daughters,
newcomers, refugees
with invisible slashes on the skin of their lives,
with unnamed shelter experiences,
with untold stories and solitudes,
with silence that echoes
in the solid, flag-draped walls of the New Citizen Program.

Something more than flags wave in Worcester's wind:
Worcester's deep heart widens
with Father Miguel Bafaro's legacy
embracing us at Centro Las Americas.

Vigorous, hopeful, perennial towers stand
summer after summer, nurturing lives at Plumley village;
a valley of hopes sprouts at Great Brook Valley.
Early school buses
-plenty of dreams - crown Worcester's streets with culture
while hardworking parents burden their bones
through multiple shifts
honoring the bread they bring to their tables, with dignity...

Meanwhile, the City of Worcester
walks toward South Main Street,
south of hope.
She stops. Looks up.
Looks forward,
embraces them all
like any tender, loving Mother.

Serenity Jackson, a junior at Worcester Technical High School, served as the third Worcester Youth Poet Laureate from January 2024 through December 2025. She is a rapper and performer with the stage name "Lil Rennie." Serenity has been performing since the age of 9 with many performances under her belt, ranging from a variety of music festivals, public events and a feature showcase at New York's Apollo Theatre. She was one of the winners at Polar Park's National Baseball Poetry Festival in April 2023. Jackson is a three-time winner at the Worcester Music Awards for Best Rapper and Best Solo Act and The People's Choice Award. Balancing creativity and compassion, Jackson is chasing her dreams in rap and poetry while studying to become a nurse.

A Thread of Dreams and Culture: Weaving Worcester and Me - by Serenity Jackson

In Worcester, where the streets hum and intertwine,
I stand with a pen, my voice is mine.
A voice I once didn't know how to prosper,
Worcester gave me the opportunity to create my own roster.
With stages and open mic nights, city streets, main idea,
From the parks to the stages, 10-year-old with a dream and a support system behind me,
Starting in Elm Park with pits in my stomach from the nervousness that fills my insides,
Until I heard the clapping and rejoicing, realizing the stage is mine.
I was so nervous my heart was pounding, but the feedback of the city was so astounding,
Where the Worcester PopUp Center, full of cultures and art,
Gave me the firm foundation where I found the courage to start.
Just a little girl with a dream and a story to tell,
I stepped on the stage of the youth center, where promotion for violence is not normal, excels.
I'm now the poet of the youth, and for the city, my heart beats.
There's not much this city didn't do for me.
As the innovative poet that I am, I've always got something to say,
So I write down my thoughts, come what may.
As a young mixed kid, striving to learn my black history,
Events and venues gathered with mixtures of nationalities,
Never failed to teach me about my ancestors and those surrounding me.
The Common's green, the city lights shine bright,
I turn my words into something that feels just right.
Worcester has seven great hills with some beautiful views,
In a world where you can choose to be the deliverer of good news.
I walk through the streets with a purpose and a plan,
Telling stories of the city and its people, as best as I can.
From the art at the museums to the old, busy roads,
The city's my canvas, where my poems come to life like genetic codes.
I speak for the youth, for those who feel small,
I write for the dreamers who stand big and tall.
Worcester's alive with music and cheer,
Where the future is bright, and the dreams are near.
I'll write about hope, about strength, and much more,
I'll write for the kids in the city who are ready to soar.
So here I am always, with my notebook in hand,
Telling stories of my hometown so bountiful and grand.
Worcester's the place where my words can fly free,
I am the Youth Poet Laureate, and this city's my key!

Adael "Ace" Mejia, a Burncoat High School graduate, served as the second Worcester Youth Poet Laureate from January 2022 through December 2023. Mejia began writing at a young age while living in Ecuador and continued to hone his passion for poetry, performance, dance, music, and theater during his time in the Worcester Public Schools. Driven by the deep belief in the power of art, Mejia wants to be a part of an artistic revolution that challenges systems, uplifts marginalized voices, and reimagines the future. Mejia participated in the inception of the City of Worcester's Create 508 Youth Entrepreneurship Program, serving as a Youth Leader and Artist Mentor.

Look mom i can fly - by Ace Mejia

Congratulations
To the icons in the building
We raised the roof
We all sensations
Inspirations, to the children
Raise your body boast your cheers

The air is new
I ain't playing when i tell you to stop fighting
The kids wanna ignite the party
We all romance so let's get started
Let go of your dunkins
I don't care who said its too late
The lifestyle don't change
The life don't stop
Lakeside to Crompton
Grab a friends hand
Let the funk in
Boston made its mark
Then came polar park
City of hearts is ready to come from the dark to make a statement
Pose
Appreciation

We are the spirit of the nation
On your body there's many scars
On my body there's many scars
On my body there's a smiley face
Product of 508
That's the icing on the cake
Standing here feels like my wedding day
Worcester ain't my city
Worcester's my lova lova
My billie jean dirty diana for her my tongue moves
I can't stop the love so i can't stop the groove

I'm here for the youth
I'm here for my city
I'm here for the revolution
I'm here for WOO

My city is army strong
Once Burncoat hears this there's no stopping the movement
Once Vernon hears this we going in fearless
Once my city kids hear this
We gonna vibe out together
WE'RE LIVING FOR THE MOMENT
Look momma ya baby boy can fly
The kids need this

They gonna want to elevate levitate
Claim the land come out the grave
Change the plan defeat the plague
This isn't chance this is destiny
Cuz everything i'm not made me everything i am
I need Worcester to take a stand
If you also believe the world rests in our hand

Amina Mohammed was a senior at Holy Name High School when she was named the first Youth Poet Laureate in Worcester, as well as the first Youth Poet Laureate in the state of Massachusetts. Mohammad served from January 2020 through December 2021. Mohammed known for her shy nature used poetry to find her voice, gain confidence and navigate through life. Mohammed is passionate about children and their artistic expression. She is pursuing a Nursing degree at UMass Lowell with the goal of becoming a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

Oh Sweet Worcester - By Amina Mohammed

From the seven hills that stretch mighty across this great state of Massachusetts,
To the hundreds of thousands that wake everyday to sing the melodies of this city upon these great hills,
Oh sweet Worcester with you lie so many untold stories,
Stories that manifest their greatness through art, music, and poetry,
Stories that are determined to be heard one way or another,
Stories that are powerful beyond measure,
And when these stories are finally liberated and told they unconsciously liberate others,
For this is Worcester,
This is the 508
The city of innovation,
The city of neighborhoods under construction and repairs,
The city of ear-piercing music and voices that lingered through the night
Oh sweet Worcester,
Oh how you're like none other
Can't you feel it?
I know you probably think I'm crazy but I feel it,
I feel it through the hot summer days of walking through Chandler street with the neighborhood kids and taking the back routes to the Dunkin's
Just in time before my grandma notices,
From the loud bus rides through the streets of Worcester I can feel the kids shouting and yelling on the buses,
Busses from Abby Kelley, Seven Hill, and East Middle pass by,
The kids jumping right off with change that eagerly awaits to be spent at a nearby convenience store,
From the lovely mixture of Mummy's sweet cassava leaf stew,
To Mrs. Gonzalez's fully seasoned sancocho and Mrs. Bianchi's cacciucco who's aroma magically roam the neighborhood
Oh sweet Worcester, some might never understand you but we do
We hear your cries for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,
We feel your grace though your widely diverse communities,
And your compassion for all lives that linger throughout your domains no matter the race, religion, or cultural,
Oh sweet Worcester,
Oh how you're like none other