My name is J Shaun

- by Andrey German, age 15

My name is J Shaun
I grew up in Oregon
where the forest was green and the flowers were colorful
where people were nice until white people came along.
They took three sons from me
I taught them well
I thought all of them would come back
but only one of them showed up.
Now the forest is brown with very few trees left.
I called them the white monsters riding weird creatures.



[Editor's note: After reading poetry, fiction and non-fiction representing various groups who lived in or came to Oregon in the 1700s and 1800s, youth in a high school English class were asked to write a poem from the perspective of someone new or established in the region during that time.]