“Dreamer’s Eyes,” by Amelia Van Driesche, 18, of Burlington
Young Writers Project is a creative, online community of teen writers and visual artists that started in Burlington in 2006. Each week, VTDigger publishes the writing and art of young Vermonters who post their work on youngwritersproject.org, a free, interactive website for youth, ages 13-19. To find out more, please go to youngwritersproject.org or contact Executive Director Susan Reid at sreid@youngwritersproject.org; (802) 324-9538.
There’s something about writing in pen that reflects a special kind of magic: There’s a permanence, longevity and self-assuredness to the written word formed in ink, qualities graphite cannot quite replicate. This week’s featured poet, Gretchen Wertlieb of South Burlington, has learned to appreciate pen because it allows her to capture her innermost thoughts, but more importantly, to own whatever errors are made in their recording.
Pen pal
Gretchen Wertlieb, 16, South Burlington
I write in pen
to get comfortable with my mistakes,
to catch all my thoughts,
scatterbrained
and fleeting.
Pen scratches the itch to write
better than any graphite.
The use of ink before pencils
has led me to believe
that pens were made for writing,
and my thoughts are most pensive.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Young Writers Project: ‘Pen pal’.