DATE: Friday, April 18, 1997                TAG: 9704180056

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E13  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   81 lines

THOUGHTS OF THE MOTHER SHE NEVER KNEW INSPIRES TEEN'S POETRY

DEMITRA BURDEN wonders what her mother looks like. She dreams about how mother smells. She imagines the feel of her mother's skin.

Demitra's family tells her that she looks like the woman who gave her up for adoption. They say she's talkative and musical just like her mother. And like her mother, she likes to express herself.

That's why she writes poetry.

Demitra, 11, has written more than 20 poems about of a variety of topics, including her mother. Her work will be on display at Hickory High School on April 24, as part of Chesapeake's Young Author Contest. The contest recognizes the work of Chesapeake's best student writers, said Valery Valentine, Demitra's sixth-grade teacher at Camelot Elementary.

Valentine recently bought Demitra a hard-bound journal and encouraged her to jot down her thoughts and hone her writing.

``I wrote her an inspirational message because I recognize her talent,'' Valentine said. ``I don't want her to ever put it aside.''

Demitra writes about subjects that adults like to imagine children never consider - poverty, abortion, unwed mothers, black-on-black violence. She writes about her fears, her mistakes, her embarrassments and the boy who told her she has ``the sweetiest personality.

She also writes about her mother:

Mother where ever you are I want you to know that I love you.

And I will never hate you.

I often wonder where you would be.

Sometimes at night I cry myself to sleep.

Wondering why you gave me away.

No one ever asked me if I wanted to stay.

``I like to write about what people go through,'' Demitra said. When asked what it is that people go through, she replies, ``Pain.''

There's joy in Demitra's poetry, too. She talks about her love for writing. About her hopes for the future. About her need for God. She speaks openly about her conversations with God and the strength for which she prays.

Demitra worries about her community as well as her future. Highly publicized crimes in her neighborhood, Camelot, have given it a reputation for violence. But Camelot has more to offer than most suspect, she said.

``People say that Camelot is a bad place, that it's a bad neighborhood, that it's got a bad school system, that it's not safe,'' Demitra said. ``But there ain't no place safe. People who say that it's bad don't know about it from the inside.''

Demitra cocks her head to the side and smiles bashfully when discussing her writing. Wearing a white blouse and green jumper, with two braids curled into tight buns high on the top of her head, Demitra's dress resembles a private-school uniform, a contrast from the baggy jeans and over-sized sneakers favored by many pre-teens.

As a poet, Demitra never knows when inspiration will strike.

Her best ideas often come to her while doing her chores.

However, Demitra knows that she won't be excused from making her bed or washing the dishes to write a poem.

So she tries as hard as she can not to forget her ideas until she can reach her journal.

``An idea pops into my head and I think, `Oh, I gotta write this down,' '' Demitra said, squeezing her eyes shut and clenching her fists. ``Sometimes I think to myself, `Lord, let me remember this one.' ''

Demitra's poems are good enough to copyright and publish in a children's magazine, Valentine said. They're also strong enough to move adults to tears.

``Sometimes my mama cries when she reads my poems,'' Demitra said, referring to her aunt and legal guardian, who typed the poems for her book.

Demitra looks up to poets such as Maya Angelou. She has read ``On the Pulse of Morning,'' the poem Angelou wrote for President Clinton's first inauguration. Despite her fondness for Angelou's work, Demitra has no plans to become a writer. Her aunt has encouraged her to become a nurse. ``She wants me to make money, so I won't be dependent on nobody,'' Demitra said.

Whatever profession she chooses, Demitra wants to be successful.

``I don't want to be a movie star or anything,'' she said. ``I just want to be a regular person, but I want to have a nice life.''

And she wants to help others. In her poem ``Mother Where Ever You Are,'' she speculates that ``the good lord . . . has this great work that he wants me to do.'' ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY / The Virginian-Pilot

Poetry by Demitra Burden, a sixth-grader at Camelot Elementary

School, will be on display at Hickory High as part of Chesapeake's

Young Author Contest.

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