Young Writers Take the Park...In Pictures (thanks to Christine Weiser)

With my camera slipped into oblivion (at least for the time being), I could not do one of my favorite things yesterday, which is to document the day being lived.

You can imagine my joy, then, when the ever-delightful Christine Weiser sent along the link to her slide show of the Pretzel Park portion of Young Writers Take the Park.  Part of yesterday's great happiness lay in listening to the fabulous musicians (including Melrose Q) who joined in the festivities.  All of that was recorded here, by Christine, who creates and runs Philadelphia Stories.

Rain was hovering.  The wind blew.  The sky was a mean Brillo pad.  The intrepid did not care.  Thank you, Christine, for the gift of this show.  Thank you, Melrose Q, for the music.  (Yes, I was the one who was dancing.)

And thank you, teen workshoppers (and teachers, families, friends, great authors, fabulous indie The Spiral Bookcase).  The work Elizabeth Mosier and I bore witness to yesterday was so full of heart and soul and goodness.

Case in point, this poem by Davis O'Leary.  Davis, who goes to T/E Middle School, was one of our winners, and he set the tone for the afternoon with this piece, which he crafted in about three minutes flat:

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Community

Sense of one is a part of more

Feeling of interests in others’ worth

Walking on the same path, whether exciting or bore

Keeping all the secrets of our mind we swore.

Monotonous people, even them we hold close,

Being a part of something bigger is what we love most.

In this group we all feel like the host

So, to the sense of togetherness, I toast.