LEWISTON — When she was 8 years old, Julia Bouwsma dreamed of either becoming a poet or a pirate when she grew up.

She got her wish, but not the swashbuckling kind. Bouwsma became a successful poet, author and librarian, and in 2021 she was named Maine’s sixth poet laureate.

During a Great Falls Forum discussion Thursday, Bouwsma said “getting to do what you wanted to do when you were 8 years old is actually an incredible privilege.”

Bouwsma, who will release her third poetry collection this year, spoke about the role that Maine plays in her poetry, and the relevance of poetry in times of isolation and polarization.

The poet lives “off the grid” with her husband in New Portland, where the couple keeps pigs and chickens and taps maple syrup. She said poetry has always been a way for her to understand and connect with her environment, and that doing chores around the homestead is “integral” to her creative practice.

“If I’m splitting firewood or digging in my garden, there is something happening in my head I’m not always conscious of, but that communication between my head and my hands becomes a kind of cadence,” she said. “So much of poetry is about call and response.”

The Maine State Poet Laureate is appointed for five years, selected by the governor from a list of candidates recommended by the Maine Arts Commission. Bouwsma said at first she did consider applying for the position, but was convinced to apply by a friend.

As poet laureate, Bouwsma has several roles, including involvement in the annual Poetry Out Loud competition, which sees high school students learn and perform poems. Bouwsma said it helps build students as public speakers, but also builds their relationships with emotion and language.

The rising popularity of the youth programs has also given ris to youth poet laureates, which cities like Lewiston and Portland have appointed in recent years.

When she was a young student, Bouwsma had a poetry teacher whom she credits with her eventually becoming a poet. She said her class memorized poetry — lines that she remembers to this day.

She recited a poem that she wrote when she was a child in elementary school, and while she said it was a little “embarrassing,” she still attempts to keep the same “intensity” from her youthful writing.

“I’m really interested in the idea that poetry is a form of radical vulnerability,” she said. “I believe that poetry, particularly in times of isolation and polarization, is one of our most powerful tools.”

By the time her term is complete next year, Bouwsma has a goal of presenting or reading in all 16 Maine counties.

During the hourlong talk, Bouwsma read a selection of her published works, including a poem from her 2018 collection “Midden,” about the forced eviction of the mixed-race community living on Malaga Island near Phippsburg.

During a question and answer session, Bouwsma was asked how teachers can emphasize things like poetry at a time when testing and other needs are prioritized.

She doesn’t have an answer, she said, but testified to the importance of poetry and language and its influence on youth.

“I was a kid who had big things going on at home, and for me to have the power and agency that I found on the page … was one of the most powerful things I can think of,” she said.

She said poetry is a way to motivate students “to learn language, and enjoy language.”

Bouwsma will release her new poetry collection, “Death Fluorescence,” in June.