Creating Poetry from Art

By Savannah H., age 14

Over 100 WriteGirl mentees explored the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens as part of our annual Creative Nonfiction workshop on Jan. 9, 2016. WriteGirl mentee Savannah House, age 14, was inspired by a marble statue in the American Art Gallery named Ruth from 1853.

"I was inspired by it because I have always wondered what it would be like to know what life was like generations ago," Savannah says.

Ruth

Falling trees and bare trees within hidden pads and patches of forest. I wonder what it used to be.

When Ruth stood here in 1853, did she see through her marble eyes, what used to be? Can she see me now?

I want to get lost in a forest of trees, just to see if I can find my way. Through years of paths all the way to another Milky Way.

Just to see if I can find my soul at ease, crinkle the leaves beneath my bare feet until you cannot see the white of my soles or the yellow in my dress.

Let the wind blow the trees and cover you. All alone. let me sit at the edge of a fallen soul and think, relive a life, and breathe life into my own soul.

Dirt rests and winds sit still. The smell of fresh planted seeds and clean water on the dirt that made me believe.

Snow falls, and yet all I can do is dream. I want to get lost in a forest of trees, just to see if I can find my soul at ease.