I open the English folder in my cubby
It’s a new assignment
My teacher wants me to write a poem
I have 7 days.
7 days before the due date I
Go outside to play in the freshwater creek
Situated next to our house
Without a care in the world I stroll freely in the grassy groves
Surrounding my feet with vegetation within each step
Is the feeling of leaves under my shoes
And the pitter patter of animals escaping through the shuffling of bushes
The wildlife as interesting as ever
I use a butterfly net to try and catch minnows
I use numerous sticks on the ground and pretend they’re swords
Battling trees as the sticks thump onto the stump of multiple enemies!
And breaking when I put too much force behind the swing of my fragile stick
That I carefully picked and decided that it was worthy
For my hand
The sky looks clearer and not a thought passes my mind
When I gaze up and wonder
What to do next
Suddenly i’m interrupted by a voice
My mama calls me home
As the instructions come
I follow
I put down my stick that I have declared “excalibur”
And I hide a bow that i’ve made of birch and wool string under some leaves
As well as some berries that i’ve named “healings”
“I’ll play with them tomorrow!”
I think whilst
heading back home
I look up into the night sky glittered with stars
I enter the house
My mama asks me to wash some veggies
My papa asks me to hold a screwdriver
Mama prepares everything as I watch with awe.
And Dad fixed my broken toy
And in the end
what comes out is a beautiful warm scrumptious dinner
Fit for me and my belly.
Whilst I play with my favorite new toy.
6 days before the due date I
Look at the books on my bookshelf while I lay on the couch
Counting the number of words on each book
Laying there
No words
Just boredom
I hear an icecream truck
I rush downstairs and ask dad for some money
He agrees
Giddy with excitement
I get dressed in a loose shirt and some ruffled pants
And run outside to get an odd looking but tasty spongebob popsicle
My mind is pleased and i’m happy as ever
Nothing to distract me and my popsicle
I walk home happily enjoying it
Sit down on the couch and finish it up
I watch an episode of spongebob before thinking about what I will do next
The thought of starting the poem this early teases my mind
I poke fun of the idea
I’d rather start a brand new “diary of a wimpy kid” book instead
As I walk to the bookshelf I see the assignment in my binder
6 days till due date
And without hesitation or second thought
I Pick
Up the Diary of a Wimpy kid book and start reading
And waste the day away immersed
Into a book featuring “Greg Heffley”
And his family of sticklike figures
I wonder if they’re like my family?
My mama and papa?
5 days before the due date I
Spend my time looking into the magazines and catalogs
Of the “Krogers” and the “Walmarts”
Interested in the things they offer
“Buy 2 and get 1 chocolate bar for free!”
Exclaims the page that looks so appealing to
My young mind
Perhaps we should go to the store soon
I want to go to the store with my mama
Maybe she needs something
Maybe she’ll get me what I want
I stare at the magazines and the new sections I discover
Only feed my desires of a trip to the grocery store
The sky gets a bit cloudier
Taking the form of a small but recognisable cumulonimbus cloud
I can hear some rain
I hear each droplet
Dripping down from the roof of my house as it hits the tiles
We can’t go today
She says
We’d get wet
She says
We can do it another day
She says
I’ll just have to remind her
As I keep looking at the store pamphlets
Something changes
The fact that I can’t have any of these
Makes it pointless.
I throw the pamphlets to a side for now
To leave them forgotten
As they are now pretty much useless
To me.
4 days before the due date I
Ride my bike outside to a very special place
With money inside my pocket
And a bike from my friend
I head to a place that my mom
Has never allowed me to go to
I walk inside and the smell of grease and oil hit my nostrils
The sound of a dozen beeps and
rustling business
Making me the 4th in line
As I wait patiently I notice that the sky outside has gathered smoke
Smoke that i’ve never seen before
It’s too dark to be a natural cloud
Dragged down by itself
looking miserably dreadful
But i’m too focused on the line in front of me
I’m now the one to step up!
The cashier looks at my stature
She hesitates for a second
then offers me the kids menu
I order something I’ve never tried before
It feels so oily in my hands
But I take my first bite
and something
Something In my brain
Declares that this sacred food
it’s the best it’s ever had.
I ride back on my bicycle when the sky is dark
I could have sworn,
There were more stars in the sky 3 days ago
But all is fine because I still have
Half my food
And 3$
3 days before the due date I
Play games on my brand new console
The fun graphics
The stunning detail
The cool theme
The immersive element claims my attention
I don’t even recognise When my mom comes home from the grocery store
I keep on playing
Eyes wide
Looking at my screen
My mom calls for me
I don’t answer
She tries again
I slightly budge
But I don’t care
She screams my name loudly
wondering if i’m in the house
I answer back, without moving from my spot
She asks for help with the groceries
I’m stuck to my spot
Her voice fades from my comprehension
All that’s left is me
and my game
Nothing else
As I play the day away
The ugly smoke that formed outside
Gets worse and
Worse and
Some even gets into the house
Eventually I get annoyed and close the window
But I head right back to my game after
And play on!
2 days before the due date I
Watch youtube videos on my phone
I sit and enjoy a couple of donuts
The sugar being nothing new to me
Eventually I get bored
I discover A faster way
To consume content
I scroll thousands of times per hour
Only focusing on the videos that grasps my mind immediately
And I scroll past others
That seemed boring
The smoke from before is in my room
Although it hasn’t gotten much worse
its filled up every crevice and crack of the house
It’s in the bathroom
In the kitchen
In the bedroom
It’s even gotten into my school
It clouds the relationship between me
And my parents
We fight and shout occasionally
I don’t want to learn from them and neither do they
I watch as people outside look at each other in disgust
Some even insult each other.
But I don’t care, not really.
In Fact I chuckle a bit.
Really, it isn’t that serious
Not at all.
I wipe the sweat and grease off my phone
Set it to a side
Brush my teeth
Scroll for another hour
Then sleep.
The day before its due I
I receive a grim email reminder by the teacher that it needs to be finished
All the drafts have to be organized neatly
That the final result has to demonstrate the growth of the first 2
He states that being late will
Affect the grade drastically as
He has given us a week to write it.
When I get back home
My mother and father ignore me
They jeer at me
I head up to my room and
Simply go back on my phone
The pungent odor of the smoke that used to be bearable
Has made everything worse
I can’t see clearly
What’s in front of me?
There are no stars in the sky.
Only planes producing more pungent disgusting smoke
I take a hit from my vape that I got from my friend
Declaring “Banana Ice! Fun for all ages”
And lie down onto my bed
And take a quick nap
3 hours before the due date I
Finally remember something
It’s the assignment I’ve been reminded of
I rush to get started
my first draft
But I don’t know what to write about
I don’t want to seem too wild
I don’t want to look so fragile
And I definitely don’t want to look so stupid.
Shit. What am I going to write about?
2 hours before the due date I
Have a draft
As unorganized as it can be
It will do
It’s only a draft
There’s no need to rush myself
This will be easy
A piece of cake
The crumpled up pieces of paper thrown out of rage
Under my desk and beneath my chair
Are already start to stain
By heavy black smoke
Surrounding me
30 minutes before the due date I
Rewrote my draft
It came out semi-fine
Better than the first
But still not good enough to even pass as a draft
The destruction happening outside my window becomes too apparent
The smoke takes over my room like a menacing machine
Unable to be stopped
The noise is too much, screams of people and arguments erupt outside
The smoke disables my ability to even see clearly anymore.
10 minutes before the due date I
Panic. I straight Panic.
Sirens outside and inside my head prove too much for my mind to handle
I take the biggest hit ever
The distress causes me to grasp my hair in anger
And grit my teeth
5 minutes before the due date I
Am laughing.
I Am scared.
I can see fire
The arguing of Father and Mother downstairs is loud as ever
The screams outside are loud as ever
My internal voice is as loud as ever
1 minute before the due date I
Hear the worst fighting i’ve heard of my life
The smoke has gotten so thick
I can’t see
Myself.
I can’t think of anything either
1 minute after the due date I
Look outside at the clear sky
And the peaceful road
The smoke that was once so heavy is gone as well
I feel calm
Collected.
At ease.
In Fact I start writing my Poem
I know exactly what to write about.
The Birds chirping outside ready to encourage me anytime i’m tired
My mama brings me a warm glass of milk and a cookie she baked
as papa gives me encouragement as well
They tell me they love me, and head off somewhere else
I’m tired, but calm.
Nervous, but not Afraid.
4 hours after the due date I
am done writing
It’s the next day already.
I submit my work and wait for my grade
I fiddle with my pencil in anticipation
Wondering if I did good or not
It comes through 30 minutes later
It’s a 77
The only comment:
“Twenty percent deducted for being late.”