Don Welch lives in Nebraska and is one of those many talented American poets who have never received as much attention as they deserve. His poems are distinguished by the meticulous care he puts into writing them, and by their deep intelligence. Here is Welch’s picture of a 14-year-old, captured at that awkward and painfully vulnerable step on the way to adulthood.
At 14
To be shy,
to lower your eyes
after making a greeting.
to know
wherever you go
you’ll be called on,
to fear
whoever you’re near
will ask you,
to wear
the softer sides of the air
in rooms filled with angers,
your ship
always docked
in transparent slips
whose wharves
are sheerer than membranes.
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pretty good view of a 14 year old... i should know.
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Giant steps /strides one has to take in reaching into adulthood. This piece brings the sweet sheltered every mother's child into the inclusive realm of reality in reading it.
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Age 14? I can remember 14, is anyone ever that young? That was 60 yrs. ago for me. It was a fun time and a good time growing up. I know I thought I was an adult, boy was I wrong.
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and a little more about him ...
Don Welch moves among the poor like a modern day Whitman who has mastered the fine art of pruning. The poor, he says, "need the dump and truck of love / to walk on too." With a minimum of words he evokes a maximum of feelings and sympathies. The rest of us need the poet's words to bring us those places we have neither the time nor the courage to explore. — Bill Kloefkorn -
Forgive me if i seem different but my age 14 was a long time ago and I never had any experience of what is written here, However I have seen this happening to others I met along the pathway of life.
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This is beautiful. I especially liked the beginning. I think a lot of people can be shy at that young age. I remember when I was 14, my goodness 1999 feels like a long time ago now. How time flies. I was a nerd then and still am today, except a little less awkward. Thanks for sharing.
Haley Mary -
Brilliantly Thought-provoking...
"your ship
always docked
in transparent slips
whose wharves
are sheerer than membranes."
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I dont even remember being 14. Isnt that sad?
I do recall having purple hair, and diligently attempting to be Cyndi Lauper, red High Tops and everything.
I love the display of bashfulness, uncertainty, painful as it might be at 14.
Love,
jin
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At 14
Wow! I can really feel where you are "to wear the softer sides
of the air" great stuff!
Mary Halay -
wow only 14...very well done
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well done, something everybody who could ever remember being a teenager could relate with, and easily too, which is no easy feat, so congratulations.
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Wow, this piece is stunning! It makes me relive that time. Very real and so much truth that it's almost scary. He is an amazing poet indeed!
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