Memories of Youth

When we were young, we woke up to Mama’s food and coffee, baby in her lap
With the mercy of the hot morning sun shining down on bright yellow sunflowers
In the garden with the old white fence
But all I remember is you and me from the lost postcard album
Blissful and happy, together with ice cream under the bright blue summer sky
At sixteen we dream first love, confusing passion and ambition lost in nature’s wildfire
Yet eternal in a thousand stars making their crisscross journeys to earth
For the moon comes out every night playing the sun, the light in the depths of darkness
Blinding us for a moment, too fast to see each other
I can hear the clock’s faint ticking, for time is running out for me and you,
But you’ve got to have life to love life, not sparing fractions of seconds
Fearful of the future, wasting a million existences in indifference
For in silence and old age,
We cry a river as we drown in the flood of emotions; overflowing
As we grieve a life not living, remembering the long forgotten in our minds
Until the curtains close, and death turns on the light

---

Jacqueline Wu (16) is a writer from Long Island, New York. She is a writer and editor for her acclaimed school magazine, Cinnabar. She has also won several writing competitions and awards, such as the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. She is forthcoming in Teenmind, ReadThis, and other magazines. Jacqueline enjoys painting, drawing, writing, and playing the viola, and she hopes to continue to inspire and empower through her words.