Poet's Statement

My work focused on unappreciated heroes, comparing those that died after acts of moral courage with those that survived. From the Holocaust, I selected Witold Pilecki, a Polish solider who infiltrated Jewish concentration camps to gather reconnaissance and managed to escape alive. However, many heroes courageously sacrifice their lives, which I displayed by incorporating my cousin, Frank O. Slater, who perished on the U.S.S. San Francisco after refusing to abandon his post, even when faced with death. I ultimately aimed to illustrate that a hero's death or survival does not validate or eliminate acts of moral courage.