A raw, honest collection of poetry that speaks to the heart of every teenage girl - and anyone who remembers being one.
"Aching Thoughts" is more than a poetry collection - it's a lifeline thrown across the turbulent waters of adolescence, a mirror held up to the complex inner world of teenage girls, and a testament to the power of writing as survival. Sixteen-year-old Natalie West began this collection at thirteen, chronicling three transformative years with unflinching honesty and surprising wisdom.
This isn't poetry that prettifies pain or romanticizes struggle. West writes with the urgency of someone who needs to get the words out before they consume her from within. Her poems tackle the full spectrum of teenage experience: the suffocating anxiety of watching childhood slip away ("suddenly the sun set and i was sixteen / but i hadn't grown up i was somewhere in between"), the complicated grief of losing a beloved pet, the confusion of psychiatric medication ("the pills that i swallow each morning and every night / come in different shapes and colors / some are blue some are white"), and the raw reality of self-harm and suicidal ideation.
But what makes this collection extraordinary is its refusal to remain in darkness. West's poetry moves through pain toward something resembling hope—not the false cheerfulness adults often push on struggling teens, but real, hard-won understanding. She writes about toxic relationships with startling clarity ("when we were in public / he would squeeze my hand as a form of punishment"), captures the dissociation of depression with haunting accuracy ("she felt as though she was haunting her own home"), and explores the complex relationships between daughters and mothers who see too much of themselves in each other.
The collection is thoughtfully structured in five sections that mirror a journey of growth and healing. "Childhood is ending" captures the bittersweet recognition of innocence lost. "The stars and the sky" finds solace in nature and the cosmos, where the moon becomes a confidante and the stars hold secrets. "Thoughts of a teenage girl" dives deep into mental health struggles, family dynamics, and the weight of existing in a world that feels too heavy. "Come back into the world and look around" reconnects with nature and finds metaphors for human experience in wildflowers, weeping willows, and manta rays. Finally, "You will fall in love again" offers not just romantic love but self-love and hope for renewal.
West's relationship with nature threads throughout the collection like a lifeline. Having grown up in rural Massachusetts before moving to California, she writes with genuine love for the natural world - not as an aesthetic or Instagram backdrop, but as a source of real wisdom and comfort. Her environmental consciousness adds depth to poems about sea creatures suffocating on human debris and mountains hardening with resentment after being abandoned by climbers.
The poetry itself ranges from structured rhyming verses to free-form expressions, from single powerful images ("my heart is deserted yet overgrown / a pripyat city gone unknown") to longer meditative pieces about picking wildflowers or the ethics of how we treat Earth's creatures. West has a gift for finding the perfect metaphor—comparing her heart to Chernobyl, her thoughts to waves that crash and recede, her healing to the changing seasons.
What sets "Aching Thoughts" apart from other teen poetry collections is its absolute authenticity. West doesn't write to impress adults or to fit into any particular poetic tradition. She writes because she has to, because these words demanded to exist. The result is poetry that will make teenage readers feel profoundly seen and understood, while reminding adult readers of the intensity and validity of adolescent emotions we too often dismiss.
The collection includes a thoughtful trigger warning, acknowledging that some content deals with sensitive topics. But rather than dwelling only in difficulty, West offers her words as company for others walking similar paths. Her poems about ADHD, anxiety, the fog of medication, and the struggle to feel anything at all will resonate with countless young people navigating mental health challenges in an increasingly complex world.
In her own words, West explains why the book leans toward darker themes: "this book is real / and life consists of pain." But she also reminds us that writing is "like creating your own dimension" and that "feeling things deeply is a magical thing." This paradox—embracing both pain and beauty, darkness and light - makes "Aching Thoughts" essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the teenage experience from the inside out.
As West writes: "at this moment i am making a vow to my teenage heart / i promise i will never stop writing or making art / oh sweet girl i know that what you felt was real." This collection is that promise kept.