“Click,” by Isla Segal, 13, of Woodstock
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.
If you could speak to your younger self — your grade-school self, say — what knowledge or advice would you impart? Often we find ourselves looking back, thinking, “If only I’d understood X, Y, Z about life at the time…” — but then again, we had to learn those lessons along the way, rather than be told. This week’s featured poet, Beatrice Garvin of Peacham, is sage enough to grasp that she may not have all the answers in life yet, and that that is perfectly okay.
To the little girl with big dreams
Beatrice Garvin, 14, Peacham
I wish the sun always shone,
but never burned your skin,
and that when it is snowing,
the cold never nips.
I wish all your tears were happy,
and you never knew grief,
but I know none of this is true,
because dear,
you are me.
You don’t know it yet,
what your life will bring.
And neither do I,
but I can’t wait to see.
But I know you’ve laughed,
cried for joy and for pain.
I know you’re ambitious,
have hopes and have dreams.
I know you’re indecisive,
but that is okay,
for you have so much time to decide what path you will pave.
I don’t know what or who you will become,
but I know who you are
better than I know myself —
because you are me,
simply not as burdened.
I carry you everywhere,
with every step that I take,
and you don’t know it yet,
but you’ll be okay.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Young Writers Project: ‘To the little girl with big dreams’.