Write here: It's getting harder to breathe
On days when the air is filled with smog, it can feel difficult to breathe – but we may also get this feeling when we’re faced with challenges or stress
Words and ideas can be interpreted in many different ways. This week, we are publishing two poems, both of which were inspired by the theme “suffocation”, but which tackle this theme from two very different angles.
Suffocation
The world is so weird.
People desire money and fame, to live like kings,
To please others, they do everything.
Children must go to school and fight,
A battle of the weak and the mighty.
The winner at the top of the class smiles with happiness.
While the loser stares at their low marks with sadness.
Some may try to cause others pain.
Tell the teacher? Why bother! They don’t care.
And while some may find solace among their friends,
Once they graduate, it all comes to an end.
The mighty then set out to conquer the universe.
But for the rest of us, things only get worse.
School is one long battle between students and exams,
Over and over again. What is the point?
What do we gain from all this suffering?
But people have no choice, if they want a job.
And they have to take whatever job they can get.
So, they work like dogs
To earn enough money to get by.
However, can money buy everything?
Of course not!
Karen Au Ka-yung, Ho Fung College
Write here: Stop trying to be someone else
Suffocation
Waking up in the morning,
breathing a deep breath,
choking on the dust,
no balmy sunshine to warm your hands,
only biting, painful wind.
Autumn brings with it smog,
look outside and you’ll see no clear skies,
only an aged cleaner on the street,
a scene of silence.
Although a friend may greet you,
you won’t see them in the fog.
And although you might see a palm tree,
this is certainly no holiday
Nothing can be changed,
Nothing can remain,
the only thing you can do,
is follow the sign on the street,
and go back indoors where you belong
with a sigh of resignation.
Carmen Leung, 18, Chinese University
Edited by Charlotte Ames-Ettridge
Write here, right now
Every week, we publish readers’ creative writing, poetry, photographs and artwork. For the chance to see your work published, email it to [email protected]. (Remember to have "Write Here" in your email's subject line, and include your full name, age, and school; and if you have photos or artwork that goes with it, it needs to be at least 1MB.)