“Farm House,” by Claire Zandstra, 13, of Topsham.
Young Writers Project is a creative online community of teen writers, photographers and artists, which has been based in Vermont since 2006. Each week, VTDigger features the writing and art of young Vermonters who publish their work on youngwritersproject.org, a free, interactive website for 12- to 18-year-olds. To find out more, visit youngwritersproject.org, or contact Executive Director Susan Reid at sreid@youngwritersproject.org and 802-324-9538.
It is one of life’s simplest desires to be fully seen for who we are and be shown unconditional love and kindness in turn. Finding mutual acceptance and appreciation in another person is a gift — and not always a romantic one — that we are not granted with every day, and something to cherish with all our hearts. This week’s featured poet, Siri Dunn of Morristown, pays tribute to Papa Simmons, the nonagenarian patriarch of the family who has provided a lifetime of laughs, encouragement, and memories.
Papa Simmons
Siri Dunn, 18, Morristown
Hello sweetheart!
My goodness, how time has flown.
You used to be so little, do you remember?
We would drive to watch the baseball games, leave two innings early to make it back home,
and watch the fireworks from the car seats…
We spent hours in the basement putting together ads for the newspaper, do you remember?
Cutting out black and white houses, gluing them together with descriptions, our fingers were
covered in glue by the end…
Hello sweetheart, how are you?
Wake up to opera in the mornings, I’d be singing along, do you remember?
Oh, and our car rides too, classical music has no words but I’ll always find a way
to sing along at the top of my lungs.
Snickle fritz and frickle snitz, I don’t know which is which, sweetheart, but that’s alright…
Let’s have soup and sandwiches for lunch, we’ll drink tea from the brown teapot to wash it all down.
And the yard, look at the yard, sweetheart, this is a beautiful place. Let’s go for lawnmower cart rides, be careful of Grandma’s primroses though…
Help me cut down the bamboo and clean up the pond, be careful not to fall in, but I’ll give you a towel if you do…
Hello sweetheart, merry Christmas!
Have you tried the blue cheese? It’s fantastic, here, I’ll get you some.
Later I’ll have a scotch and it will be late.
Come sit and I’ll read to you, the night before Christmas.
All of you, come sit here with me.
I can’t help but laugh at the “bowl full of jelly” part.
Look at this family, my goodness!
This is fantastic…
Let’s watch a movie, sweetheart, I’ll tell you about it the entire time, I know what happens in this part…
Come sit with me, let’s play Mastermind and eat peanuts from the peanut jar, I’ll always find a way to make you smile.
We could take Dudley for a walk, before it gets too warm… Just a little stroll, sweetheart, and then we’ll pick blueberries…
I have a balloon in my pocket, let’s blow it up and watch it fly around the room, I’ll always laugh at that.
Ohh, but I can be a magician too, they call me Marco! Here, sit here and let me perform, there’s that beautiful smile I missed.
Hello sweetheart, how’s it going?
Look at how big you’ve gotten, my goodness!
How you’ve grown.
Come sit with me on the porch, this is a surprise!
Let’s watch the birds and talk about everything, do you remember that bear I saw?
He was stealing all my birdseed, my goodness, he must’ve been hungry.
I’ve been making bowls sweetheart, they sit through all your houses now, I hope.
They hold the things you love.
Let me tell you a story about my daughter Joan, your grandmother… You look just like her, you know.
You’re almost an adult, sweetheart, my goodness!
How time has flown.
I’m 98 today, that’s pretty old if I do say so myself…
Oh, but don’t you worry, sweetheart,
I’ll stay till you’re grown.
Is it that time already?
It was lovely to see you, sweetheart, come again!
I’ll see you again.
My goodness, look at all these people!
This is fantastic.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Young Writers Project: ‘Papa Simmons’.