Where
By Luca Sabine Bernstein

We all come from somewhere, but that doesn’t mean we all belong somewhere. It took me a while to learn where I’m from, so now it’s time to learn where I belong.
I am from pleases and thank yous, customs I’ve taken too far.
I am my anxious Mothers’ greatest joy
and my Father’s biggest mistake
I’m from denial of who I am
And generations of pain.
I am from omens as truth
And moons that give me power,
From sunset to sunrise
I am from arrested stalkers.
4 charges to go
from freedom to fear.
I’m from letting it be
and never giving up.
I am from unspoken perfumes
And divorced parents
Broken families
but powerful Women
I am from notes that my voice couldn’t say
I am from wanting to run away.
But staying
Staying stuck
in a mediator’s office
holding it in.
I am from not crying,
from being what I thought strong was.
I’m grown, from growing up too fast.
And having been forced to give second chances, and thirds.
And from wanting to end on happiness,
when the end is nowhere near.

Taking Root: The Girls Write Now 2022 Anthology

For more than two years, our young writers have weathered an adolescence shaped by an ongoing global pandemic. But a harsh climate can also produce work of rare depth, complexity, nuance and humor. The Girls Write Now mentees in this collection have found new ways to build community and take root. This anthology is a catalog of seeds—each young writer cultivating a shimmering, emergent voice. In short stories, personal essays, poetry, and more, they reflect on life-altering topics like heartbreak, self-care and friendship. The result is a stunning book with global relevance of all this generation has endured and transformed.
Process
Where I come from is something I think about a lot. I don’t remember exactly when and where I first started this poem, maybe it was in English class or maybe I wrote a line and it continued on. But I found this poem in the Notes app on my phone, half-done, and I really loved it so I rewrote it in my notebook, and have gone back to it countless times over the years. It still doesn’t feel finished, and maybe it never will. As I’m growing older, I’m learning more and more about where I’m from. I’m learning that where I’m from has a strong connection to where I belong, but that is still undiscovered.

Luca Bernstein
There are many things Luca Sabine loves to do, she may not be good at them all but she learned that is not what’s important. Luca loves science, soccer, writing, dancing, cooking, singing and swimming at the beach. She’s really worried about being able to accomplish all her goals, that’s why she always remembers to enjoy the little things in life because you never know where you’ll end up. Luca’s favorite thing in the whole world is probably food, she feels guilty admitting it because there are a lot more important things but food makes her the happiest.