Young Writers Project: ‘Went strawberry-picking today’

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.

Ahh, the simple joys of summer: the ice cream truck’s jingle ringing through the neighborhood, that sizzling burger on the backyard grill, a ripe strawberry plucked straight from the runner. When the sun is beaming down hot, there’s nothing better. This week’s featured poet, Sela Morgenstein Fuerst of South Burlington, relishes the very juice running down her chin, savoring the taste and experience that is eating a fresh berry on a warm, sunny day.

Went strawberry-picking today

Sela Morgenstein Fuerst, 11, South Burlington

Summer means

a sun-kissed, still-warm

strawberry, red –

not lip gloss, but staining my everything

as I eat it slower than snails, slower than I should,

while lounging on a rock,

river mermaid come to life,

sunscreen fading into my skin, into

the air,

pondering life in a buttery sunbeam…

eating a strawberry

that’s dripping down my white shirtsleeves,

and reveling in summer.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Young Writers Project: ‘Went strawberry-picking today’ .