And We're Back . . .

Welcome back to sevenatenine for the start of a new school year at Holicong, a year that heralds two new principals (welcome!), newly renovated student bathrooms (farewell forever to the tinfoil walls!), and a whole new crop of student poetry and art.

To begin our year, we bring you a poem from ninth grader, Sydney E., a poem that reminds us that happiness is within our grasp despite the challenges.  It is inspired by the painting The Journey by Selma Bortner. 

The Descent

“The descent into hell is easy.”

~Virgil, The Aeneid

 

To my right I see the beasts

The beasts of grief and misery
To my left I see the beasts
The beasts of hope and happiness

 The beasts of grief and misery beckon

The wolf’s growl is seducing
The snake’s hiss is mesmerizing

But the beasts of hope and happiness call
The zebra with his kindly eyes
The duck squirming in the zebra’s grasp
Trying to pull me away from the darkness

My boat is floating closer
Floating closer to the darkness
I want to reach out to the beasts

 As I reach out to the beasts

The beasts of grief and misery
A bolt of lightning strikes the boat
The boat of hope and happiness

I know the end is near
I am drifting closer to darkness
The beasts are calling my name

I hear a woman’s voice

A woman is calling my name
I hear a man’s voice
A man is calling my name

 A man clothed all in red

A woman in the nude
Are on the boat of hope and happiness

They want me to join them

On the boat of Hope and happiness
They want me to leave my boat
The boat of grief and misery

I turn back to the beasts
The beasts of grief and misery
I do not want to join them

I reach out my hand to the beasts

The beasts of hope and happiness
I reach out my hand to the man
I reach out my hand to the woman

I do not want to join the beasts

The beasts of grief and misery
I want to join the boat
The boat of hope and happiness


-- Sydney E., grade nine