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.
They’re called our formative years for a reason, but what exactly are those invisible forces that mold us into the shape we recognize in the mirror? What is universal to the experience of young adulthood, and what is characteristic of the era and environment in which we are raised? This week’s featured poet, Gracie Batsie of Jericho, knows that the distinctions that divide and unite us today are often a piece of the puzzle, too — and meant to be reverently celebrated.
Theology
By Gracie Batsie, 17, of Jericho
Religion is girlhood.
God is a teenage girl screaming the names of the people she used to love at the sky.
Worship is dancing and celebrating while still being upset.
Faith is tying yourself into knots over the people who love and hate you.
Spirituality is complimenting and comforting girls you have never seen before in lunch lines and bathrooms.
Prayer is silently eating an overpriced poke bowl at the overlook parking lot with your best friend, who seems to be the only person there to actually weather the storm.
Gospel is messy bedsheets stained with makeup and glitter from the girls we used to be.
Creeds are bagels, string lights, butterfly clips, and Barbie movie quotes.
Piety is folding yourself into the girl you would want to date and the woman you would want to marry.
Observance is repeating the lyric, “They all say that it gets better … but what if I don’t?” to yourself over and over again in the mirror.
Invocation is feeling like your emotions are painted on the walls when no one truly realizes you even have emotions, because you are the cool girl who goes with everything.
Orthodoxy is your grandma and aunties feeding you toast with jam while telling you that you are the most beautiful girl in the world.
Religion is girlhood.