Home
Young Writers Project

Search form

  • Login
  • DONATE
  • CREATE
    • RECENT POSTS
    • THE DAILY READ
  • COMMUNITY
    • TINY WRITES
    • BOOK CLUB
    • OH SNAP! OPEN MIC
    • YWP PODCAST: Line Break
    • YWP CALENDAR
  • CHALLENGES
    • WEEKLY CHALLENGES: Jan-June 2022
    • CREATE YOUR OWN CHALLENGES
    • JOURNALISM CHALLENGES
      • Journalism Project Info
    • LIFELINE CONTEST: See the April issue of The Voice for prize-winners
    • THE GREAT POETS CHALLENGE
    • CHALLENGES BANK
    • YWP RESOURCES
    • CALL TO ARTISTS
    • SYNESTHETIC ART
  • PUBLICATIONS
    • ANTHOLOGY 12
      • Celebrate Anthology 12 Podcast!
    • THE VOICE
    • SPECIAL ISSUES: The ELM 2021
      • A Celebration of Trees
      • The Social Distancing Journal
    • MEDIA PARTNERS
    • YWP NEWSLETTER
    • ANNUAL REPORT
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT YWP
    • "YWP is ..." Who we are!
    • PERMISSION FORM
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS OF USE
    • CONTACT US
  • Donate
  • LOG IN/JOIN
Previous Post
Next Post
Mar 15
poem
Anna

a letter to the US government

you’ve never met me,
have you?
did you have any idea whatsoever
that i exist at all?

let me introduce myself.

i don’t need you to know my name,
feminist would be fine.
nevermind that.
call me what you like.
i am not defined by your words.

i am writing to you
not to say what you’re doing wrong
or to tell you how evil you are.

i have never met you
so i believe it’s unfair to make judgments.
that much is a lesson i should hope
you’re one day able to learn.

i am writing for change.

immigrants aren’t criminals
unless we make them so
by making it illegal for them
to dream.

women aren’t weak
unless men
are equally weak
and strength has no meaning at all.

love is love
unless you can inform me what else it could be
because i was never taught another definition
so please enlighten me.

we need gun control NOW
unless 1,077 lives don’t matter.
by the time you read this the number may have grown
so don’t bother telling me i’m incorrect.

there’s so much more i could say
i could go on for pages and pages
words flowing from my fingertips
but i don’t want to sit and complain

i want to get up and change things.

so i will end this here.
thank you for reading.

i know you’ll likely do nothing

but this is a reminder

that we won’t back down.
it’s not just me.

it has never just been me.

it’s us.

we are the wall you ask for
but we're not what you invisioned.
this wall will hold back those
we diminish our power
to nothing.

sincerely,
me
Us



#writersforchange





 
  • Anna's blog
  • Sprout
  • Log in or register to post comments
  • Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Posted: 03.15.18
About the Author: Anna
anna
MSG / CONTACT
RECENT LOVES
  • Self-Portrait at 18
  • sky dazzling star
  • The Smell of a Street
  • The Normalcy of a School Day
  • Dead Hour
RECENT COMMENTS
  • Thank you!
  • Thank you so much! That means
  • I love this, especially the
  • Thanks! I changed it, you're
  • Oops, that was a typo! Thank

Other Posts

  • when you took the stars for granted
    when you were 11your science teacher taught you about the stars.  Read more
    in poem 0 Comments
  • A thank you to the world
    thank youfor bringing us mornings that taste like leftovers and sound Read more
    in poem 6 Comments
  • returning
    it’s strange to be backand to be gone. Read more
    in poem 0 Comments

Discussion

Comments

  1. ShanRippWriting
    Mar 19, 2018

    This was really great. The line, "by the time you read this the number may have grown
    so don’t bother telling me i’m incorrect," made me stop because of how terrifyingly true it is. I feel the power and passion in your voice. Great job, Shannon :)

    Shannon Ripp

    • Log in or register to post comments
  1. writersforchange
    Mar 20, 2018

    Thank you for your contribution to the #writersforchange page!

    • Log in or register to post comments
  • ABOUT
  • DONATE
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER
  • JOIN/LOGIN
YWP is a creative, online community of teen writers and visual artists, ages 13-18. We're based in Burlington, VT, and we welcome young creators from anywhere!
Special thanks to The Kemmerer Family Foundation whose generous support made this new, improved website possible.
Website development and design by Refaktor Inc., Summit Creative Works, and YWP's Vivien Sorce, Lauren McCabe, Katherine Moran, and Susan Reid.

Young Writers Project | 47 Maple St., Suite 216 | Burlington, VT 05401
501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2006
Contact: Susan Reid, Executive Director: [email protected]; (802) 324-9538