A huge thank you to all who took the time to enter the 2025 Solano County Library Teen Writing Contest!

We were honored to read your work, and encourage each of you to continue writing.

Please enjoy the winning entry below!

POETRY WINNER

Notice

by Jasmine Nichols

Does anyone notice me?

I am tireless, working myself till I feel numb.

No one notices.

My eyes drag behind me, feeling like wilting flowers.

They don’t notice.

I’m quiet as the leaves, falling in the autumn breeze.

Why don’t they notice?

Why can’t they see me?

They’re kind laughter cutting their mockery.

They watch my smile cover my pain.

My determination is my only fuel.

NOTICE.

I feel as I am disappearing, like ash in a fire,

piling up til nothing is left.

please see me.

Cuts along my skin, burning like my body is on fire.

notice…

They notice,

but it’s too late.

I am beneath their voices fading like silent echoes,

the mumbling of fake cries.

A wilted red roses falling on top of me.

Tears water the earth that keeps me quiet,

I’m finally at peace.