Ty's poem "Every Creature Prays" won second place in the January 2017 issue.
He is a junior at SAR High School in Riverdale, New York.​
This is his first entry into The Bedford Ledger.

Tell us a little about yourself.
   I love playing the guitar and writing songs, playing sports, being in nature, and pursuing spirituality. I am an environmentalist, I have chickens in my backyard, and aspire to be an organic farmer one day. I want to travel the world, learn from its many cultures, and write songs and poems about my experiences along the way.

Who or what inspires your love for writing/poetry? Do you have any favorite poets or poems that you like to read or have influenced your style of writing?
​   I find nature to be the richest source of spirituality in the world, and when I write poetry I try to tap into that and exploit its undeniably beauties by translating them into words. However, I write poetry about many things, including society, my relationships, American consumerism and many other topics. Poetry to me is a paradox that explores the complexities of life, then reduces life to its simplest form, and then lets you decide what to take away from it. One of my favorite poets is Hafiz, an ancient Sufi poet; he is incredible at the literary reduction process and depicts beauties in ordinary experiences.

Give us some background on your writing - do you only write poetry? Do you write for pleasure? Have you won any other contests?
      In addition to writing poetry, I also write songs on the guitar. I have explored writing short stories, however I prefer writing poems. This is my first contest I've entered, but I plan on entering more. Every piece I create is written 'for pleasure'. If I wrote poetry for anything but pleasure I wouldn't enjoy it as much. Part of my poetry writing process is the freedom it provides, and I can only attain that by writing for fun.
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What was the inspiration or the story behind your winning poem?
​    I was lying in my bed when I first got the inspiration for the line about trees rolling up their prayer mats; when I woke up the next day I brainstormed other ways in which nature "prays". I bless those who read my poem to take whatever they need to take away from it, but what I had in mind was to emphasize a humbling attitude when it comes to prayer and spirituality. Sometimes people haughtily value their methods for spiritual connection over that of others.  It is important to remember the diversity of prayer.  Although some of us may bow like the waves, others will pray through song like the sparrow; and despite these differences all of our prayers are equal.  Nature is used as a metaphor to represent the different modalities of prayer amongst men as well as to describe the spiritual interconnectedness of all things in this world.  Ultimately, I enjoy being present in the elemental world I created in my poem, I hope that it can grant you perspective like it did for me.