While We Are Young

By Pier House Books

A collection of poems and stories by and for young adults. While We Are Young tackles the hard topics, the new stru

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pier House Books
• Release date: Aug 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781087981772

Book preview

1

What Do I Do

 I like to think poems are the window to your soul... if you open that window you're vulnerable, but that doesn't mean you will hurt. Vulnerability is just like a hidden happiness. If you want to be fully happy, you have to be fully vulnerable ~ Asa Brewer

      What Do I Do

Kathryn Dessinger

What do I do

When life knocks me down?

Stand back up.

What do I do

When sadness swirls like a whirlwind?

Fight back.

What do I do

When I’m never enough?

Become more.

What do I do

When everything I have to give 

Is gone?

Give more.

What do I do

When everyone tells me to give up?

Try harder.

What do I do

When I can’t fix everyone?

Fix myself.

What do I do

When my life shatters?

Piece it back together.

What do I do

When I’m stuck in an endless cycle?

Break it.

What do I do

When I lose myself?

Search.

What do I do

When I can’t change it?

Hope.

2

Inspiration

Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet? ~ L.M. Montgomery

Inspiration

 Alisa Beth Jones 

Inspiration is the colorful meadow of flowers and the tall, majestic oak trees. 

It is when you write about worlds far away. 

It is you running through the sun,

with your hair flying behind you. 

Inspiration is when you are swimming in the night, with the stars and the moon lighting 

your way. 

It is the soft crashing of the waves upon the sand. 

It is when you are happy and can think of endless things to do, say, and write. 

Inspiration is the light shining through your window. 

It is the cottage with a cobblestone path you dream of. 

It is a soft, pillowy dream. When you float to sleep as soon as your eyes close. 

Inspiration is like a hurricane of ideas, you can’t write them fast enough, and you can’t 

savor them slow enough. 

When you laugh with your friends and hear the breeze through a tunnel of trees. 

It is like a blank wall, waiting to be painted. 

Inspiration.

Soft, sweet, memorable, nice, beautiful, colorful,

and accepting. 

Inspiration makes you want to dance. 

It is a soft sound, echoing through the water. A laugh somewhere deep inside of you. 

It is love for someone else. 

It is you.

Inspiration can come from anything.

3

Who Am I?

(TW)

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Who Am I?

Anonymous

Who am I without my scars?

Who am I without my pain and dark days?

Who am I without the nerves that tumble

      through my body?

Who am I without my sister’s broken and mended soul?

Who am I without my history

that I’ve forged through?

Who am I without my cuts? 

Who am I if no one can see all of this?

Who am I when my fake smile is gone?

Who am I if I like sad movies?

Who am I if the world turns me away?

Who am I when I step out of my safe solidarity?

Who am I when that friend doesn’t love me anymore?

Who am I when I don’t joke about my pain

     and deal with it?

Who am I without this built up safe place of warm colors,

     and my own thoughts,

paper everywhere, and drawings too?

Who am I without my cat and my music?

Who am I If I’m not a girl?

Who am I if I’m not a boy either?

Who am I when I'm not loved?

Who am I without pink and blue too?

Who am I when I'm not okay?

Perfect, I am perfect. 

4

Who Are You?

"Be honest in every way possible. To yourself and to

everyone around you. And try to be yourself with no

restrictions. Because restrictions are a lie to yourself."

~ Alisa Beth Jones

Who Are You?

Jenevieve Polgar

You blink. Your copula bedroom slowly comes into focus and a low chant rises to the surface of your mind: It’s tomorrow, it’s tomorrow, it’s tomorrow. Stand up, stretch, and get dressed quickly, throwing on the black pants and brown shirt of the eighteens. Spare a quick glance out the thick windows lining the walls and ceiling. 

Outside the glass is an endless expanse of stars. 

Slide into the paper-thin one piece HabSuit and screw on the bubble-like helmet. Switch off the lights and type in the code to turn off the oxygen, gravity, and pressure regulation before you go. 

The door seals shut behind your back as you shout a quick good-bye at your home parent over the radio before grabbing your packed lunch. Run down the hall to the doors for the airtight loading dock, because there’s only a moment to spare. 

In a few seconds the familiar attaching noises and small beep ring through the speaker inside your helmet, confirming that the passage between the satellite home and school pod is safe. 

Doors hiss open and you sprint into the loading dock. Your other parent left hours ago, so the leftmost dock has a large Empty sign glowing on it, but your home parent’s pod is still here. 

The guest dock is where you’re going. Punch the Open button and walk onto the pod. Smile at the driver and stride to the back seat where you see Charlie waving. 

Skylar! Wait till you see what my dad got me! They squeal. Look! Charlie twists around so you can see their new backpack. The space-vacuum-proof material is shiny and new, a definite improvement to their faded, peeling old bag. He’s been doing all kinds of nice things for me for tomorrow.

Ash is squeezed against the wall as you pull a three-seater with the two of them. You doubt they notice. Ash is staring silently out the window and doesn’t look up. 

Before you got on, I was asking Ash what they were thinking about, Charlie announces. "You know, they’re always thinking about something when they go quiet like that. There’s a pause. Ash doesn’t look away from the window. So, what are you thinking about?"

Tomorrow, Ash replies in a quiet monotone. What else is there to think about?

A still kind of quiet falls over all three of you. Even Charlie is silenced at the thought. The Day of Decision is the most important day of the year. The day you will decide who you are. The teachers have been giving you all week to research on your HoloScreens, download and create pros and cons lists, and, by today, everyone should come to a decision. And everyone has, except you.

* * *

Once you arrive at School Complex 361, you step into one of the TransVators with Charlie and Ash. All three of you insert your IDs into the scanners and the Vator shoots off, arriving at your classroom in approximately 5. 16 seconds. 

Of course, there are hallways connecting the rooms, but they’re only for emergencies and special occasions. The school is too huge for people to walk everywhere. 

Most of the class is already there, chatting happily and peeling off their HabSuits. You take off yours and sit down behind your levi-desk. Hit the HoloScreen button on the bottom of the desk, sign in, and pick up where you left off. Research tabs about the history of The Scale of Identities pop back up. There is also a Create tab with two charts on it. All you have to do now is fill them. 

But that’s the problem. 

You’ve been searching all week. Posts and videos titled Why I Went With Bi on My Day of Decision and The Day: How to Choose among others. But you haven't found who you are yet. 

You