Emily Morris ’13 Honored at ASAP’s Celebration of Young Writers
Emily Morris ’13 was one of a dozen young writers from throughout western Connecticut who were honored for their work at the 7th Annual Celebration of Young Writers organized by ASAP, the After School Arts Program based in Washington, Connecticut. The event was held on the grounds of the Bryan Memorial Hall in Washington Depot on May 12th.
Emily was honored for her poem, “The House on Upper County,” which she dedicated to her English teacher, Tom Juvan, and her photography teacher, Michael Gallagher. Emily wrote the poem as an assignment for Tom’s English class; she was inspired to write the poem about the house of the title after she took photographs of it for a photography class Michael had taught.
Emily’s poem was read at the event by the actress Susan Saint James, who also served as the host for the program. Other students’ poems and stories were presented by other guest readers, including the authors Candace Bushnell, Frank Delaney, and Dani Shapiro, and the actors Jerry Adler, Paul Doherty, Jack Gilpin, and Fran Brill Kelly.
The House on Upper County
A modern day ruin in our midst,
The house lies submerged in the earth
Like a shipwreck,
Sunken and tipped,
Swallowed up by an overgrowth of vines.
Life strangling death.
Devoid of human life,
Human touch,
Mold and rust consume its brittle shell.
Its inhabitants have unexplainably relocated,
Abandoned ship.
A forgotten companion.
Un-paned windows like beaten, black sails,
Soulless, black holes,
Expose a reef of debris.
Heaps of clothing jettisoned,
Dirty, yet dry, sheltered, preserved,
Trends passé.
Intruding upon this lost vessel,
Evidence of human purpose is anchored
By rusty food cans, plastic Shout bottles, like buoys,
Cast, weathered, and worn.
Dated labels, vintage, aged, unfamiliar.
Cargo, diseased and forgotten.
Black graffiti on its once white sail
Marks it like a prisoner.
Dehumanized and branded,
Starved, tattered, and cold.
A victim of neglect,
Drowned on Upper County.
–Emily Morris ’13
