WRITING
Us
Winner of the Upper School House Poetry Recital Competition Note: Inspired by the Upper School Symposium theme ‘Us and Them’, this poem was written and recited by Yusuf at the Upper School House Poetry Recital Competition, winning him first place. Another poem by Yusuf, ‘Bad Guys’, has won the Poetry category in the 2016 Amnesty International Youth awards.
Yusuf Tarajia (Year 13)
Us This is us They’re not part of us They don’t laugh with us They don’t drink from the same glass as us They don’t have the same future, present or past as us They’re not from the same parts as us They don’t travel by the same charts as us We have so many questions but they won’t answer us We’re the lost generation full of spite, malice and hatred Stuck in the liminal stages Perplexing as it is As the day goes through its phases We lead this life we live We’re just ghosts in the matrix No hope for the latest Set of first generation babies Not able to integrate with their people Sticking out like a church steeple In the midst of grimy warehouses and buildings In the playground they struggle to fit in With the other children and the rest of the system They listen But never speak A meek child with no hopes to succeed His voice so small he’s afraid to leak Any information about the emotions underneath Because he doesn’t want to look weak Afraid he’s gonna get beat By his dad Old school ways No super nanny fad So he spends his days And to God he prays But never for his own sake Because if he didn’t he believed his parents would send him away In the playground there was no play For him anyway Disillusioned from the rest of the kids
Illustration by Jamie Spillet (Year 11)
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