Don Welch lives in Nebraska and is one of those many talented American poets who have never received as much attention as they deserve. His poems are distinguished by the meticulous care he puts into writing them, and by their deep intelligence. Here is Welch’s picture of a 14-year-old, captured at that awkward and painfully vulnerable step on the way to adulthood.

At 14

To be shy,

to lower your eyes

after making a greeting.

to know

wherever you go

you’ll be called on,

to fear

whoever you’re near

will ask you,

to wear

the softer sides of the air

in rooms filled with angers,

your ship

always docked

in transparent slips

whose wharves

are sheerer than membranes.