Young Writers Project: Drumming thunder

Artwork is “Ghost!” by Riley Bernatchy, 15, of Cambridge.

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.

“When you approach this instrument for the first time, what comes out of you is simply what you feel,” American jazz fusion and funk musician Dennis Chambers has said of the drums. Every instrument plays its part — but no doubt the drums offer the broadest spectrum of expression, given a set’s multiple components. This week’s featured poet, Abigail Balon of Panton, captures the unique sound of each percussion feature.

Drumming thunder

Abigail Balon, 13, Panton

I drum,

beating the small snare with my power.

I may be small,

but I am the loudest in the band.

The base is thunder crashing.

The snare is rain slamming to the Earth.

One cymbal is lightning crashing.

One is the waves of the beach.

The triangle is the eerie calm before the storm.

The timpani is the wind howling.

The hi-hat is the sound of dripping water

tapping onto the ground.

Smash!

Crash!

Clash!

So many sounds,

all

from

the

drums.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Young Writers Project: Drumming thunder .