Serenity Baruzzini, 16

Serenity Baruzzini, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an aspiring mechanical engineer and an avid writer. She describes her writing as very honest, whether she’s drafting personal essays, poetry, letters, or fictional short stories. Baruzzini’s writing focuses on her firsthand experiences and often address controversial issues. Writing is an outlet for her to calculate her thoughts and construct them in a peaceful environment, which is easier for her than regular conversation.

Barruzini’s activism focuses on how Asperger Syndrome is represented and depicted in academic settings. Barruzini thoroughly explored the possibility of being on the spectrum during her time in school. In her research of the syndrome, she recognizes a familiar struggle and is an advocate of peer education about the diagnosis.
Baruzzini’s work has appeared in PS Junior, an annual magazine by local publisher Philadelphia Stories, Bright Magazine, and a Mural Arts Program children’s book. After high school, Baruzzini hopes to pursue an education and career in the sciences, technology, engineering, or math. She also plans to continue her journey as a young author.

The Truth?

By Serenity Baruzzini

I am barely aware of the sirens

It feels like I swallowed the fire

That was burning all around me

Now it’s inside me

I don’t know how long it will last

I wait

Makes me feel less alone

There’s a lurching in the pit of my stomach

It doesn’t go away

Especially when someone starts

Pounding

At the door

I can’t shake it

I can’t see anything

Her soft

Supple lips

Move in silent prayer

I don’t know how long it will last

Like clockwork

All hell breaks loose

Just enough to remind us

We aren’t asleep

We’re stuck in a storm that

Swirls and

Pounds

It’s like a routine

Like a routine

Bouncing off the walls

Shift and mutter

The butterflies?

They’re dead!

They’ll no longer flutter

The world grows

Less and less

Perfect

By the minute

I don’t know if I can survive living like this

Does this count as being alive?

For a while

It was like we were

Invincible

As long as we stuck

Together

I take it back

I take it all back

Everything I said

Before

It hurts now

That that’s what I’d been thinking

They say it’s human nature

-Even though it seems as though we’re turning

Into ghosts

Some of us

Look away

When bad things happen

Some of us

Don’t want to

See

We’re the only ones still here

Stranded

I wonder what’s folded in their fists

Keeping them standing

They try to separate us

But we saw it the same

That’s what I’d been thinking

Wrong

Now they won’t know what to believe

I can’t help but wonder

Why

They

Seem

Forget

What

Happened