About the Young Writers Project
YWP, an independent nonprofit based in Burlington, Vermont, engages young people to write and use digital media to express themselves with clarity and power and to gain confidence and skills for the workplace and life. YWP publishes about 1,000 students’ work each year here, in newspapers across Vermont, on Vermont Public Radio and in YWP’s monthly digital magazine, The Voice. Since 2006, it has offered young people a place to write, explore and connect online at youngwritersproject.org, which has only one rule: Be respectful. For more information, please contact YWP executive director Geoffrey Gevalt at ggevalt@youngwritersproject.org.
This week’s Young Writers Project entry is “It’s What I Left Behind” by Erin Zubarik, a sophomore at Champlain Valley Union High School.
It’s What I Left Behind
By Erin Zubarik
[I]t began with fire,
wood and paper
against enveloping orange flames,
which ate up the world
that was my own.
The flame and smoke tangled and curled
round its plentiful prey,
pulling them down into the fallen beams
and gleaming embers,
the cries of those caught in its trap
piercing the night.
And I took my socks and shoes and ran.
I ran from the flames that chased me.
My world,
which was left behind,
lighting the night
till it was no more than
a golden glow
of what was left behind.
Years later,
when life was worthless
and I sat behind walls,
which were only an expiration date of law,
I waited.
I waited while the people spoke in my ear,
kind words,
good words,
but all I ever heard was run.
Run to forget what was left behind.
So when the day came
and I thought I was free
I took my socks and shoes and ran.
I ran to get away
from the walls and people
that held me prisoner.
And I left it all behind.
When hearts were one
and verses of love were sung to me,
I only heard the clock,
a powerful beat.
And when the ground grew cold,
I felt the ice burn my feet,
and the heart
that once held love
filled with terror.
And I took my socks and shoes and ran.
I ran because I was scared.
I ran so far my socks and shoes
became worn by earth.
It was not until I stopped
and let my body sink into the ground
that it occurred to me
what had always been so clear.
I ran because the flames never stopped chasing me.
It was not what I brought,
but what I left behind.
Editor’s note: There is no audio of Erin’s poem.
