Once upon a virus of Grade 11

By Shania Jayasekera

Memories and cherished gazes turn into rusted metal

A virus bounces as the harder it is thrown

Our schools shifted back and forth radically to emptiness

Locked us up with Our eyes stuck on screens for hours

Mesmerized by Missing assignments

Late nights catching up with work

Failing grades on each test

2 1/2 months of

Stressing, crying, confusion, being so overwhelmed

Not a single spare from a city, from the province, from the country

From that mighty reach and flare

Time was ticking

Our moments hinder lively death, grasping too quickly

We tried to move forward but the heels of our feet fail us

We are placed in a trance of rewind, strings of hopelessness tie us everywhere

But the glimpse of perseverance struck excellence, piercing the sight of hopelessness

We cut those ties with resilience that was locked away from our minds

Deep inside our conscience Angel once said

A pain and clear lesson won its race

Now we are here, doomsday is done,

pushed through rough waters,

Bloomed beneath the blazing sun, hundreds of flowers scorched through heat

We brushed away the dirt from our petals, still growing with grit and grace

Farewell to fear and anger

Battlegrounds once in iron chains, now a temple of where peace and strength conquer again.