In an effort to reach as many of our Kellenberg Families as possible, Phoenix Online is now proud to post weekly poems, prose, art and photography from our student contributors for Renaissance, Kellenberg’s Arts and Literature magazine. The Kellenberg Memorial students and staff at Renaissance and Phoenix Online are proud to share these creative works. We hope you enjoy them.
By Grace Wilson, ’23:
I felt a strange wind gust from the west. It wasn’t like the breeze that I normally feel in the early hours of dawn; it didn’t leave me with that tingling sensation in my hands, nor did it leave me with the familiar numbness in my feet. This wind embraced me and provided me with warmth and solace. It filled my soul with exhilaration.
The trees on the sidewalk, I notice, are nearly bare, and its leaves that were once a lively green are now a homogenous brown. The leaves encircle me as I continue further down my block as if they are attracted by the same winds that granted me comfort. I notice the old lamppost at the corner of my street whose lightbulb hasn’t been changed since last December. A family of winter moths gather in the crevices to seek refuge from the upcoming season. I ponder the notion of metamorphosis. The idea that these moths didn’t just “come to be”. They were once mere caterpillars that underwent major transformations to become who they are now. I notice a pair of playful squirrels scurrying to salvage the last of the acorns before the time comes for them to take shelter in their burrows. The physicality of the squirrels has changed since the summer; they now possess a thicker fur coat to shield them from the bitter cold. I notice an elderly couple strolling through the neighborhood with their grandchildren. The juxtaposition of the contrasting ages doesn’t take away from how touching the sight is. What is their story? Is it as romantic and lovely as it may appear on the outside?
Surely the trees, moths, and squirrels aren’t the only things that undergo change.
“You can’t change who you are.”
But is that really true? Life is change, and change is life. We all have matured and learned from past mistakes and failures. We have all grown from the little children we used to be. It’s never too late to change who we are now to become the person we want to be and can be in the future. It all starts when you overcome and challenge aspects of yourself you wish to change.
And it’s then that I realize that the winds I encountered this morning weren’t the usual winds that one feels on the boardwalk at the beach, nor the gentle breeze that jolts you awake in the morning.
For the winds that I encountered this morning were the winds of change.