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.
Whether you’re bobbing on the lake or zipping through the tree line atop skis, there’s nothing quite like that rush of a cool, invigorating breeze on your face. But the lines between the subjective and objective begin to blur when compared to that special wind-whisper at the start of a New England autumn. Nature has an empowering effect, too. This week’s poet, Sela Morgenstein Fuerst of South Burlington, twirls through the falling leaves on a pair of rollerblades, imagining a brighter future for both self and country.
Independence on Rollerblades
Sela Morgenstein Fuerst, 12, South Burlington
These shoes feel like wings.
I am
f l y i n g
across the newly grooved pavement, balancing
on pink wheels and scraped knees and a perfect morning,
whispering, You won’t fall. Someday I will glide straight
into the White House and spin around
with my arms out wide as the changing leaves swirl golden
around me. I’ll write my own declaration
right then and there, in my wrist guards and helmet,
my name scrawled at the bottom in big, looping letters,
like the gentle curves of my body as I skate
toward freedom
and f a l l.
