Current Issue -

We Both…

By Avery Garcia-Prats, Age 13 | Winter 2025-26

We both smile, we both weep

We both have secrets we hate to keep

We both overthink and cannot lie

We both dance when we want to cry

We both know that we’re not the same

We both know our stories align in some frame

We both love with all our hearts

We both break because of different parts

We both fight away the dark

We both have a secret little spark

We both need each other right now

We both have a secret path only we allow

We both are strong through the fall

We both smile because we give it our all

Avery Garcia-Prats


Avery Garcia-Prats is an 8th grader at Decorah Middle School. She loves reading, playing soccer, and listening to music. She spends a lot of her time with her family and friends, who play a significant role in her life.


    We created Future Focused, a new Inspire(d) column written by pre-teens and teens, to help give the next generation an opportunity to share their voices. Partnering with Dana Hogan, the Extended Learning Program teacher at Decorah Middle School, we offered prompts around the question, “What do we have in common?” Students submitted some really great work, and four were chosen for this Inspire(d). You can read all the Future Focused pieces published so far at iloveinspired.com/category/future-focused. Here’s to Listening to the Next Generation! – Aryn

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