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"A Poem for the End of Summer"

Brenna O'Connor

All the cracks swerve up the
tree making it look old and
realistic. Its small leaves swaying
and shriveling in the hot sun. When
I look at the tip of the tree, the leaves
are tiny green dots, but up close I can see veins
running down each
and every leaf. The sun shines
through the leaves creating spots
and dots of sun on the grassy ground.
One branch multiplying into another
creating fractals and patterns of
all sorts. You can imagine
the root extending into the ground
making the tree stable and balanced.

---------------------------------------------

Brenna was eight years old when she wrote this poem during Words With Wings, a two-week creative writing summer camp for kids ages 8-14 run by the Missoula Writing Collaborative. The Collaborative enrolled 86 kids for this year's camp (their eighth), and received funding support from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and the Plum Creek Foundation.

Brenna's bio:

"My name is Brenna. I'm ten, I like cats and poetry. I'm allergic to cats, but I love them anyway. I like the Harry Potter and Warriors books. I like to draw, too. I like to climb trees and I once climbed onto the roof of our old house."

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