Artist’s Statement: When I wrote this poem I was in the wake of the loss of both my grandfather and uncle and grappling with how that was affecting my life. I chose to write to express the complicated storm of emotions I was feeling because writing has always been a stable outlet for me and I hoped that I would find some kind of inner peace through using writing as my coping mechanism. I thought if I could turn loss into a person, something physical I could be angry at, then I could manage it easier. I want other teens to take away that though loss can feel impossible it will get better and it won’t always feel as intense and insolvable as it does in the weeks and months after you lose someone.
Sasha is the Vice President of social media for Here.Now. and has served on the executive leadership board for two years. She’s a junior at the NYC Museum School and a writer passionate about mental health activism. In her spare time, Sasha loves spending time with her houseplants and friends and trying her best to make the world around her a better place.
