Young Writers Project is a creative online community of teen writers, photographers and artists, which has been based in Vermont since 2006. Each week, VTDigger features the writing and art of young Vermonters who publish their work on youngwritersproject.org, a free, interactive website for 12- to 18-year-olds. To find out more, visit youngwritersproject.org, or contact Executive Director Susan Reid at sreid@youngwritersproject.org and 802-324-9538.
And just like that, graduation season is upon us. A season of endings, a season of honorings, and a season of new beginnings, too. This week’s featured poet, Maddie Thibault of Duxbury, raises a glass to both the ones who’ve held her back, only to propel her forward, and to the ones who have always lit the path along the way.
A toast
By Maddie Thibault, 18, of Duxbury
To the ones who walked beside me every day,
and those who walked away from me.
To the ones I left behind,
and those who left me.
To the ones who taught me through kindness,
and those who taught me through cruelty.
To the ones I hurt,
and those who hurt me.
To the ones who have been here this first 18 years,
and those who will be there for the next.
A toast, to those who’ve made this masterpiece, whether methodically or by mistake —
I toast to thee.