The 2021-2022 school year has ended (at last)! This year has certainly been a wild ride, with many changes happening around us and in our lives. At least, the end of this school year is quite a significant milestone for me and everyone else in Grade 9 because it marks the start of high school! My poem below uses symbolism and allegory to define the true nature of change, and how perspective shapes how one is affected by it. Enjoy! (And on a side note, have a great summer everyone!)
Blessing in Disguise
Reflecting back on childhood memories,
enemies became friends; friends to enemies.
Revenge tag, grounders, and dodgeball fights,
flip through our minds in nostalgic lights.
Ending with final exams and PATs,
time seems to suddenly freeze.
This is when reality hits,
and the creature starts to prepare its toolkits.
Everywhere you are, everywhere you see,
lurks this strange creature, that decrees.
It paves the way for shifting seasons,
and mutations in evolution—often without reason.
So as the school year scrapes to a halt,
it ushers all to make amends with past faults.
Its presence is there as you shout your goodbyes,
urging you to finally realize.
And you do; you eventually do understand,
the situation that is at hand.
All this is inevitable, you see,
you just must learn to keep yourself at peace.
The last school bell rings, a waking call,
to those who rise and those who fall.
The creature gives everyone a piece of clay,
then it’s up to us to decide our fate.
Some may treat it as a boulder,
carrying it like a chip on their shoulder.
It weighs them down and slows their pace,
in an imaginary rat race.
But others, who are more audacious,
would be more than gracious.
As they mould it into resourceful shapes,
and wear it on their shoulders like superhero capes.
But the choice is yours,
and yours alone to make.
Is it really a burden,
or an opportunity to take?
At the end of the day,
what’s bound to happen,
you cannot delay.
For the creature with the clay is Change.
That is,
a blessing in disguise.
—Chloe Zhai
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