Words of a Young Poetess

By Diane Brinkman

Making Friends

While still a child

I will try, for awhile,

to let my creative imagination

run free and wild:

Flying on the ocean high,

on earth swimming,

playing in the blue sky.

That’s wild imagining.

Ana Carolina Assed of S¶o Paulo, Brazil has an outstanding talent for writing poems and is becoming famous for it in her country. Her first book of poetry, Mirror, was published in October 1987 when she was only eleven years old.

From the time she was very small, Ana Carolina has loved books. She would insist that her parents read to her every night before bedtime. By age five, she taught herself to read and write. Soon her creative talents became very noticeable. “I began with little ballads and many rhymes,” she says. On special occasions she writes and dedicates her poems to people she loves. Ana Carolina feels that as she grows, her poetry grows with her.

Born March 31, 1976, in Ribeirao Preto, S¶o Paulo State, she is a daughter of Jose Roberto Assed, an electrical engineer, and Ana Maria Assed, a teacher. She has an older brother, Arthur Roberto, and two younger sisters, Mariana and Laura Helena. The Asseds have been members of the Church for six years and feel thankful they have been sealed in the temple for eternity. They are a close family sharing an interest in reading, music, painting and sculpturing.

An excellent student, Ana Carolina loves Brazilian literature and enjoys modern and classical French authors, too. She has read all the standard works of the Church and realizes it is necessary always to study and live by the scriptures.

“I don’t watch much television,” Ana Carolina says. “It depends on the program. I would rather do other things.” Besides reading books and writing poetry she likes to study English, play the piano, and participate in drama. She enjoys people, too. One of her favorite pastimes is talking with her grandfather about things that happened in the early 1900s. And she likes Sundays when she can participate in spiritual activities with her friends at Church.

This exceptional young girl knows how to wisely use every minute in her busy life. Her wisdom of only twelve short years far exceeds her age. She shares this insight from the following poem, “Time”:

Time flies,

it really flies!

Quickly, very quickly

we must live,

come what may.

Live well

Very well indeed.

Every little minute gone,

believe me,

will never return.

Living for the sake of living

Is just wasting our turn.

Asked if she has any dreams she answers, “Several. One of them, a big one, is to meet Carlos Drummond de Andrade (a famous Brazilian poet), and another one—a foolish thing—is to have my own bedroom (she shares one now with both her sisters).”

What does she fear most? Not having the answers to questions asked of her.

Since publishing her book, Mirror, Ana Carolina has appeared on television talk shows, has been featured in newspaper and magazine articles and has held public autograph sessions. She has been compared to several well-known Brazilian poets whose talents also were discovered when they were children. All this sudden success has caused some concern for her parents. But how does Ana Carolina feel about becoming famous? “My life is going to change only a little,” she says with confidence.

The World

I often

ponder …

and wonder …

In this world

down under,

full of pain and sorrow …

there’s still tomorrow …

children playing in the snow

azure skies and butterflies

hope and fantasies,

love and memories.