Senior citizens will be getting a dose of reality that is pleasant for a change, when Bermudian teacher Shawnette Somner donates part of the proceeds from her latest book of poetry, ?Reality?, to Age Concern.

?I like to write about things that are relevant, things that people can relate to in everyday life,? said Ms Somner. ?Reality is a collection of original poems. As with all of my books, I give part of the proceeds to charity.

?This time I will be donating to Age Concern for senior citizens. I have a few bits of writing in here dedicated to senior citizens.?

One of her poems, ?Crown The Seniors? talks about the importance of seniors and the need to honour them in the community.

Ms Somner recently held a book signing at Age Concern to kick off the sale of her book. Reality follows two other books of poetry by Ms Somner, Vision and Changes.

It is fitting that ?Reality? will be helping the community, since it is, in some ways, a co-operative effort. Photos on the cover were taken by Miss Somner?s oldest son Ryan and some of the poems in the book were contributed by her sister, her niece and several students at the Bermuda College.

?Three of the poems are from students at the Bermuda College,? said Ms Somner. ?I went there to teach a writing lesson and I threw out a challenge to them. If they submitted poems to me, I would look at them and select one to put into my book. I chose three.?

Some of her poems have a community focus, and others are global in scope taking in such catastrophes as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Tsunami in 2004.

?I recently shared a poem I wrote called Nationality Debate at a meeting held at the Vasco Da Gama Club when they were having the discussions on racism after the attack of the Portuguese guy on Front Street,? said Ms Somner. ?Then I was asked to read it on the steps of City Hall.?

She said that her poem ?Nationality Debate? has been well received.

?The poem wasn?t necessarily written for that occasion,? she said. ?It was to show people that at the end of the day when people are talking about racism we all come from a variety of different races. When we start narrowing things down to black and white it is extremely complex.?

Although Reality also contains poems that are highly personal, many people in Bermuda will be able to relate to them.

?There is a poem in here called ?Eviction Day? which I had written about myself,? she said. ?I had been given notice to leave a place I had been renting for six years.

?At the same time there were so many other homeless stories going on. That was a combination of things. We are looking at people living in tents and trees and cars and all of that.?

Ms Somner said she enjoys reading most types of poetry, but prefers rhyming poetry.

?Poetry is freedom of expression,? she said. ?I don?t particularly like the street language hip hop poetry, even though I can appreciate that it is someone?s expression, I don?t particularly like it.

?I like Maya Angelou. One of my favourite poems is ?Mother to Son? by Langston Hughes, which I hold to because I am a single mother of two boys, Ryan, 19 and Seth, eight.?

Ms Somner said she enjoys looking at how other people are expressing themselves through poetry.

?I remember when I was a child in primary school, poetry was part of the curriculum,? she said. ?We memorised poetry and we picked it apart and looked at the meaning of poetry.

?I think that is certainly missing in our schools today. That is something that needs to be put back in. My other two books are in the schools and hopefully this one will be as well.?

She said she tries to make her books accessible to all ages, by avoiding swear words.

?I don?t like my writing to be offensive, when it comes to the language,? she said. ?I encourage children to do the same. It is not necessary to use curse words to get your point across, although that is freedom of expression.?

Ms Somner taught in the government school system for twenty years, before leaving to start her own home school, Star Academy. The school has now been open for two years. At Star Academy she tries to instil a passion for learning in her students.

?I have got back the joy of children in attending school,? she said. ?They love to be in school and they love learning. There are some things at my school like bullying and putdowns that are unacceptable.

?I am very strong in classroom management skills. If you develop a positive relationship with students and you demand respect and you let them know where you draw the line when it comes to authority. I have had two beautiful years running the home-school.?

Ms Somner hopes to one day write children?s books, and maybe even a book about her teaching experiences. She is perhaps well known for writing special occasion poetry for people, particularly to mourn the loss of loved ones.

?Someone talks to me about the situation and I can turn that into poetry,? she said.

Reality was self-published and printed locally by Triangle Press.

?They are just phenomenal,? said Ms Somner. ?The alternative ? sending your stuff back and forth to an overseas press ? is very expensive and time consuming. If you do it locally at least you can work directly with the printer and help with the final production.?

Reality is available in local bookstores.

To contact The Bookworm Beat email bookwormbeat1hotmail.com .