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.
Time may pass when you’re having fun — but that’s not the only condition under which our fingers feel like a sieve for the hourglass sand. When you’re running late for the bus or lacrosse practice, or watching the moon rise ever-higher above you and your stack of homework, then, too, time becomes slippery. This week’s featured poet, Jane Svindrychova of Norwich, watches the clock with apprehension, facing down the impending reality of the deadlines that follow us throughout our school years.
Time slip
Jane Svindrychova, 16, Norwich
My leisure was over
quicker than expected.
Now I’m back to doing homework,
but keep getting distracted.
Another glance at the clock –
another 30 minutes gone.
And you see, it builds up quickly:
You start off at zero real nicely,
but a few minutes later a quarter’s gone by,
from 15 to 30 to 45,
and in five minutes the hour is practically over,
intervals of 60 slipping right through your fingers.
Now what felt like forever
just couldn’t be shorter.
Oh please, can it all slow down?
I’m afraid I might drown,
crashing
past each deadline,
falling
through time.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Young Writers Project: ‘Time slip’.