I was flipping through the pages of Teen Ink, searching for something that not only made me think, but made me feel. "When I Am in the December of My Life," by Sigrid Edson, did just that. Edson used descriptive language and beautiful wording to suck the reader in. While reading the poem, images sparked in my mind, of people riding through the hallways when she says “I will ride a luggage cart down the hotel hallways, screaming and laughing,” or of woven flowers encircling hair when she says “I will pick wreaths of flowers to wear on my head like crowns.”

Sigrid touches upon things that many humans long to do, but society tells them that it’s not okay. I long to “wear pajamas outside even though they tell me not to.” I wish to “kick down many doors like in those ludicrous action movies.” She does an amazing job of making readers think about how much they want to be someone society tells them not to. Sigrid also does a great job making her lines flow and the words imaginative, creative, and graceful. I really like the line, “the infernal day star is sinking cautiously behind the hills,” I thought it was a beautiful line, and I could envision the entire scene. Thank you, Sigrid Edson, for giving everyone a gift, the gift of beautiful scenic words, and the ability to imagine breaking the “rules” of society.