Raleah Truman’s poem “The Horse” has been set to music that will debut Saturday at the “This is Our Song” choir program at Colby College in Waterville. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

WATERVILLE — When Raleah Truman hears her original poem adapted to music Saturday at the Colby Collegium’s spring choir program, she’s not sure how she’ll feel.

Truman, a 15-year-old Cony High School student who navigates partial deafness and vision problems, wrote “The Horse” about resilience and connection. Her poem follows the journey of a horse running, playing, seeking quiet and navigating relationships with other horses. Truman compares this with her own need to rest, play and connect, repeating the line “I deserve this.”

Truman has spent most of her school experience in special education classes. She wrote “The Horse” for the Sing Me A Story Foundation, a nonprofit that connects children and their stories with people who can create music from them.

Truman said she hopes the poem will help others understand her better.

“I just thought that maybe me doing all this, I thought maybe I deserved it, because I went through a lot,” Truman said. “I thought maybe this would help, and maybe people would understand what I am going through a little bit.”

Instead of a traditional story, Truman wanted to write a poem about the idea of strength, said Rebekah Titus, a special education teacher at Cony High School who has taught Truman over the last year.

“She was really struggling with a concept,” Titus said. “So I coached her on what things she thinks are strong, because that’s really important for her to be strong and independent. It’s a core value of hers. And she thought of horses.”

“The Horse” debuts at the “This Is Our Song” choir program, featuring original compositions by Colby students, faculty and alumni. One student song follows the cycle of the Kennebec River through the four seasons, while another chronicles the challenges of college as an international student.

Dr. Néviton Barros, choral director of Colby Collegium, said he wanted to challenge the students — many of whom are not music majors — to write their own lyrics and compose something true to their experience. He chose student William Muller to compose “The Horse.”

Muller, a junior from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, said the music flowed naturally out of Truman’s lyrics.

“I found it really beautiful,” said Muller, who is studying music and environmental science. “Pretty much right away, I started getting music in my head and started composing for her.”

Muller said the a cappella composition includes moments of calm and agitation, following the poem’s mood shifts while emulating the sounds and sensations of riding a horse.

Raleah Truman talks about her poetry book Thursday at Cony Middle and High School in Augusta. One of her poems has  been set to music and will be performed Saturday at Colby College in Waerville. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“Some parts convey sort of peacefulness of enjoying silence and quiet, like in the middle where she says, ‘The horse needs the quiet to feel calm, I need silence to maintain my thoughts,'” he said. “And then she goes on to say, ‘The horse sometimes jumps and kicks, when the horse feels unsafe it needs to protect itself.’ I switch the music there to make it more agitated sounding, to convey the way a horse would jump around and whinny when it’s provoked or upset.”

While Truman and Muller haven’t met yet, they hope to connect.

Truman rides her family friend’s horses in the summertime. The action of a horse running reminded her of how it feels to sort through her thoughts when she is stressed out, she said.

“(I run) to get off my energy, so that way I can feel more calm,” Truman said. “Sometimes I run in my head to see what is actually happening, so I can figure out what is going on, and then I talk about it.”

Barros said college students can relate to the struggle to find balance when life feels overwhelming. He said Truman’s positivity was inspiring for students.

“I was telling them to think about the poet and all the struggles she has to face and the positive view she has in life,” Barros said. “And trying to make a connection on sometimes how our problems look so overwhelming, but then you just try to make beauty out of what’s going on. It actually has been a very beautiful learning process for all.”

Muller said he hopes Truman will enjoy seeing her poem uplift singers, audience members and anyone else who listens to “The Horse.”

“I hope that listening to the song will bring out some beauty in Raleah’s poem,” Muller said, “and make her feel proud of herself for sharing such a thoughtful, deep poem.”

Tickets for the free 7:30 p.m. program at the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts are available online at arts.colby.edu/reserve-tickets.