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.
You don’t have to be a Gilmore Girl with a sixth sense for oncoming snow to appreciate the first few flakes and falls of the season. There is a kind of fantasy that accompanies a fresh blanketing, and although winter may leave us glum as she drags her heavy robes along the ground through February and March, at least for now, as this week’s featured poet, Astrid Longstreth of West Bolton, might argue, her beauty is worthy of our praise.
First snow
By Astrid Longstreth, 14, of West Bolton
She fell to Earth, coating the land with a soft hush.
For one short month, in between, she embraced her long-lost lover, Autumn,
until their time together came to an end and he departed from her icy arms.
Now she sits lonely, as even the birds flee from her.
She is a beauty to behold: pale, and oh so delicate,
sparkling in the weak sunlight of the early morning.
Her ice-chip eyes ever-watching, only sleeping when Spring sweeps in with her gown of flowers.
She remains unsatisfied, only taking her leave when those who were once filled with joy
at the sight of her are longing for her rival, Summer.
But even then, we are always waiting for her to come round again, and bring with her the opportunity of fresh tracks in the first snow.
