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.
The Garden Prince’s Freckles
Maelyn Slavik, 15, Burlington
Spring is blooming
around me,
the trees flushing pink,
the wildflower-shaped freckles
scattered throughout the grass
growing darker, brighter
with the sun;
The little boy next door,
our Garden Prince,
wanders through the daffodils,
waist-high on him,
smile like the sun,
liquid glass on the lake.
I want to hand him the crown
I’ve woven from fallen twigs,
the cascading tears
of the weeping willow,
adorned with palm-sized clusters
of apple blossoms
and forget-me-nots;
I want to gift him a cluster of freckles
for him to wear atop his smiling face,
because his joy
is one with the spring,
always growing brighter.
