Why does YA save?

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain --and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.
I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,
But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height
One luminary clock against the sky
Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

-Robert Frost

Why this poem? It's always been one of my favorites, I think. To me, it's about connecting with other people, sharing their pain, whether it be empathy or sympathy or just that thing which is human connection.

I remember I was thirteen the first time I read Anne Frank's Diary of a Girl. It was such a powerful book. I remember thinking, why, she's just like me. We think the same exact things.We have the same fears. We both want to kiss a boy! We are both worried about our future.

And I could say this, and despite the fact that she was long dead, and we spoke a different language, and I would never meet Anne Frank, that it was true. We were alike, and despite never meeting, we connected.

That's what good YA does--connects. Supports. It says, I, too, have been one acquainted with the night. And you have, too.

It's so nice that we are friends.

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