Orange Shirt Day Poem

By Aya Al-Jawad

I stand today, in orange dressed

For the lost dignity of 6 year old Phyllis Jack Webstad

An Indigenous girl forced to go to residential school

Wore grandmother’s orange gift that made her feel cool

She was full of happiness and joy

She thought all day about it while playing with her toy

I will wear it on the first day

And everyone will love it, won’t they!

With her head held high

Wearing her orange shirt and staring at the sky

She walked to school

But she was greeted with people who were cruel

They took grandmother’s gift forcefully

Along with her dignity

She once had a glowing smile

What trauma happened to this innocent child

I stand today, in orange dressed

For the lost dignity of 6 year old Phyllis Jack Webstad

And for all the residential school survivors she represents instead

I stand today, in orange dressed

In a safe school that I have been blessed

A place where my orange shirt will not be taken away

To remember the tragedy of residential schools to this day

-September 23 2021 (orange shirt day is on the 30th of September)