YWP: ‘One Stormy Eve’

[Y]oung Writers Project, an independent nonprofit based in Burlington, engages young people to write and use digital media to express themselves with clarity and power, and to gain confidence and skills for school, the workplace and life.

Each week, VTDigger features a writing submission – an essay, poem, fiction or nonfiction – accompanied by a photo or illustration from Young Writers Project.

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, share their photos, art, audio and video, and to explore and connect online at youngwritersproject.org. For more information, please contact Susan Reid at sreid@youngwritersproject.org.

Emily Trage, 16, of Thetford writes about getting caught in the rain, unprepared but in good humor about her predicament.

One Stormy Eve

By Emily Trage

[T]he hour presents itself in shades of grey,
rusted leaves replacing the blossoms of May.
My footsteps crunch against gravel and stone
as I tiredly wend my way home.

The rain wastes no time in tumbling down,
collecting on flowers and soaking the town,
clinging to shoes, then socks, then bare feet
as I follow the lonely street.

I watch in wonder as the river swells
and fat droplets sing like tinkling bells.
The sky darkens fast and I quicken my pace
through pastures of Queen Anne’s lace.

But sadly, all good things must come to an end
and I audibly sigh as I come round the bend.
I peer through the haze – my house is in sight,
a reprieve from this stormy night.

I rejoice in the last few drops of the rain,
quite out of breath, but surely still sane.
I stumble onto the sunken wood porch
before lightning strikes like a torch.

Approaching the threshold I knock on the door,
dripping wet puddles all over the floor.
And I suddenly realize, a laugh in my throat,
that I am not wearing a raincoat.