I stand in a puddle staring
As my shirt and jeans get drenched.
I notice all the thoughts that wash up in the rain.
But not only those things that appear
It is my worries that wash away.
I feel them fall down my neck
And onto my back
And drip down my legs
Into the puddle
For someone else to carry.

Originally published in KidSpirit Online for the Fear and Anxiety issue.

When she wrote this piece, Lyla Rae Cheary was 11 years old and a sixth grader at East Community High in New York City. In her free time, Lyla loves to read, write poetry, and to persistently ask her parents to get her a dog.