If you can get up, you can get down:

By Gaia Lenox, 16, Cambridge, VT

Have you ever had sour 
cherries? 
They're an angry fruit 
that stings your throat 
and boils in your stomach 
prone to scrunched noses 
and tart pies
and being gathered 
by girls with blonde pig tails
promising delicious desserts 
reaching high into branches 
that have so often posed 
as castle balconies 
or crows nests 
leaving splinters and broken 
wrists 
as a parting reminder 
of the whispered secrets that 
were held hostage by snow 
and blossoms 
in exchange for 
fingers stained red by cherry juice 
that would find its way into 
the cracks in our fingernails 
and the lace of our dresses 
that were often decorated 
with mud and bark and bad dreams 
and missed dance classes 
because the shoes hurt 
our toes 
that were needed to grip 
limbs
that would push us 
that much closer to the 
sun 
and the sour cherries 
above.[Photo opposite page: By Lily Meyer, 11, Montpelier, VT – Tree in the Enchanted Forest]