"Dear You" by Aaliyah Yarde (Somerset County Winner)

Dear you,

Does the soul outwear the breast?

Does the spirit pierce our shell?

I like to think I’m there with you, even if you couldn’t tell.

Through words, and thoughts, and distance, I tender wish you well.

For, if the soul does lack confinement in my every cell, I’ll be with you forever…

The deepest damning darkness with you I’d gladly dwell. 

Together.

Sincerely,

With you.

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Aaliyah Yarde, a 17 year old Junior at Nokomis Regional High School, sought to personify the weighted feeling of love through distance with her work “Dear You.” She was tasked with creating a work from a line in “So We’ll Go No More A’roving” by Lord Byron during a writing workshop, and in turn created a letter of confession to none other than You.