Slam poet remembers his school days in Lewiston

Slam poet and LHS alum, Myrlin Hepworth, made a visit to Lewiston High School Sept. 10-14, to talk to the students about slam poetry. Myrlin is a Nationally Ranked Slam Poet, who is originally from Lewiston, Idaho, but now lives in Arizona.

Myrlin grew up in Lewiston. He went to McSorley Elementary, Jenifer Junior High, and lastly graduated from LHS. Myrlin was just like any of the kids at LHS, he said. He played basketball, walked the same hallways, sat in the same auditorium and ate in the same lunch room. But he was bullied for the color of his skin as a Hispanic.

“I wasn’t going to tell my mom that our house wasn’t egged on accident,” Myrlin said.

At the time, he said, he knew his parents couldn’t really do anything about it, so he just left it at that.

During high school he had an identity crisis that he couldn’t tell anyone about, not even his friends. He would write poems in the privacy of his room, and wouldn’t tell anyone. Attending college in Arizona, a friend got Myrlin to read his poems aloud, in front of a crowd. He was, of course, nervous. But nowadays Myrlin does workshops in schools and prisons, and with large groups of people. He raps, he sings in hip-hop shows, and reads his poems for the public.

His biggest piece of advice for LHS students, he said, is to pursue what interest and inspires them.