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.
“So… your adventures are over,” Wendy says to Peter Pan in the closing scene of Robin Williams’ beloved movie “Hook.” “Oh, no. To live… to live will be an awfully big adventure.” But to live, alas, means we must grow up — and as we do so, expand and evolve as individuals. As long as we still have a sprinkling of fairy dust left on our wings, muses this week’s featured poet, Gretchen Wertlieb of South Burlington, they are bound to carry our weight — and the memory of all our childhood iterations.
To my teenage self
Gretchen Wertlieb, 15, South Burlington
I know you’ve noticed —
the change in your eyes,
like they used to be bluer.
I know you’ve noticed
that something’s missing from the sky,
like it’s gone grayer.
I know you long for me,
and I know why.
Because you used to eat lemon clovers and wildflowers like they were candy.
Because you used to slide down the marble steps of City Hall, not caring who saw as long as they didn’t
bust you.
Because you stopped believing in Santa at age 9, but Champ is and always has been real.
Because you used to give your leftover food to the unhoused whenever you went out to eat.
Because you used to go outside after the rain and move worms off the road so that they wouldn’t die —
wrong place, right time.
Because no matter how badly you want to leave, you still bristle when anyone criticizes your Green
Mountain home.
I know you still care,
and although your energy is waning,
your wings still have some pixie dust left.
Don’t lose sight of us
just because you grew up.
–– Your Childhood Self
