> Xpress Yourself

Jonathan Kelly, 17 Altus, Oklahoma

I Thought
by Jesse Starles, 16
Howe, Indiana

I set out seeking answers from Mother Nature.
The woods caught me by surprise.
I shut my eyes, listened, and it seemed the
whole woods broke loose of me.
I began to think about my life.
I thought about why God blessed me without hearing.
How I can experience what other people laugh at.
A squirrel’s chatter broke my next thought.
About how my life would be different,
If God hadn’t taken my hearing for another gift.
A gift that lets me shoot the bow.

Xpress your love for the outdoors! If you’ve got a creative talent, send us your work. Each season we’ll highlight poems, short stories, artwork or photographs by Xtreme JAKES.

Guidelines:

• Send your work as an attachment to jake@nwtf.net. Use Word or digital format (GIF or JPEG).

• Include your first and last name, age, city and state and title of your work.

• By submitting your work you are granting the NWTF the right to use, edit, reproduce, transmit, store and display these materials for use by the NWTF.

• No items containing profanity will be considered for publishing on the web.

Tips:

• Be creative!

• Be original! Use only your work, please do not submit anyone else’s.

• Remember all subject matter must be age-appropriate (13-17 years) and related to the outdoors.