Jacqueline Chow, a student at Highland Oaks Elementary School in Arcadia, is one of KCRW’s featured poets for the Young Creators Project.
Photo courtesy of Jacqueline Chow.

Young Creators Project spotlight: Jacqueline Chow

Each day this week, KCRW is spotlighting the homegrown budding talent sourced via the Young Creators Project, a community arts mentorship platform celebrating the creative work of SoCal residents under 21. 


Jacqueline Chow, 11, is an avid reader and huge fan of bugs. The future entomologist also writes poems of all kinds, all the time. When not engaged in one of these hobbies, Chow enjoys playing board/word games and soccer, and raising  awareness about the plight of animals like the vaquita (a porpoise species that is near extinction, with only nine left in the world).

Body Text
Body Text
Body Text
Body Text

Read her poetry submission “Ode to the Ground” below. 

Rich Text
Rich Text
Rich Text
Rich Text



Ode to the Ground byJacqueline Chow

You hold me up so I stand tall 
You try not to, let me fall You support me everywhere I go 
And everywhere I go, I know That you'll always be there for me 
You catch me when I stumble and trip You hold me tight in your powerful grip You let my shoes tread on your head With no complaint, to be said 
Even if I run and jump 
You move me along, sprinting fast 
You help me go, others past My pounding feet meet you every step I take 
You try not to let yourself quake Though sometimes you can't control the urge 
You allow the bugs to make their home 
In you... and me to comb Through all the grass and dirt and rocks 
And all the tiny burrows, locks To find the bugs and hold them 
You welcome sunshine, welcome it in 
And store it like a storage bin You soak up the sun that makes you hot And let me lie there, though I ought 
To be practicing cello 
Without you, everyone would be 
Floating in the watery sea 
Or floating up, in the air Or the core of the Earth... it's hot in there, 
Hotter than the surface of the sun 
I love you , love you! You're the best Better than bugs (1 must confess) 
I owe my life as I know it to you And I'm thankful for all the things you do 
For me. 

Thank you ground! 

Rich Text
Rich Text
Rich Text
Rich Text

More: 

Young Creator’s Project - Music
Young Creators Spotlight: Taty
Young Creators Spotlight: Ruler of Program
Young Creators Spotlight: Ras
Young Creators Spotlight: Magnus Ferrell

More from KCRW

Great white sharks call Southern California shores their home. Carlos Gauna, a photographer and drone pilot, documents the hot spots and shares safety tips.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

The cookbook “Kismet” features family recipes and favorites from the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern restaurants owned by Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Jerry West, the perennial NBA All-Star and architect of the Lakers’ “Showtime” and Shaq/Kobe eras, dies at 86.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Can women initiate sex? I’m thinking of breaking my celibacy, but men scare me. How do I set boundaries with my parents about my sex life?

from How’s Your Sex Life?

This week, Katherine Morgan Schafler, author of The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control, explores our relationship with the ideal of being a perfectionist.

from Life Examined

University of Connecticut basketball coach Dan Hurley said, “Thanks, but no thanks” to a reported six-year deal to be the Lakers’ new coach. The offer would’ve doubled his salary.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand