Westfield Senior Writes Poem Encompassing Graduation Emotions

Westfield NJ

07 December, 2021

12:50 PM

Description

WESTFIELD NJ, — Graduating during a global pandemic is a heavy topic to grapple with, but one Westfield High School senior put his thoughts into a poem. Shirzad Mustafa is a senior at Westfield High School and considers himself a NYC transplant. "The poem is in recognition of the uncertainties my fellow classmates may be feeling (even as things are hectic and exciting)," Mustafa said. In addition to poetry, Mustafa said his interests include politics, environmental justice, and immigrant issues. He is also passionate about Japanese literary forms and comic art. His manga-based TikTok channel has 382,000 followers and has conducted research on how manga and anime can help with mental health literacy in youth. Check out his poem: Graduation Summer's rite of passage so closeBut trapped in between states. So many thoughts, not expressedConversations not had. No abundance of school memories Merely lingering commentsAdventures started, never finishedHangouts abandoned. Year's lessons crammed into weeksLearning curdled into bitternessVulnerabilities onto essays, forcedVirtual tours blended. Keen anxiety bubbles and ascendsToo fast to savor rare triumphsBonds and laughter, overshadowedOur futures mortgaged. Lives punctuated at all the wrong placesHow do we reset our worlds? If just race rats, mired in daily grind No pause to rest our head?