Elizabeth Li

Students and Society

A Time of Innocence

Childhood has an expiration day
A time of Innocence, naïve and bold
But there’s no time for joy and play
We’ve erased the ancient threshold
 
Spurred on by heavy competition
What dreams of their own do they have?
Fulfilling the old tradition
Of obedience, true and sad
 
There was a time when they laughed with glee,
Worked steadily, cheerfully singing
Look now as they silently sit and study
And wither away to nothing

Let them be loud, obnoxious, sincere
And let them ask stupid questions
Gaze at them lovingly, holding them dear
And wish you could have their positions

Life's Exertions

There lived two friends, learned rapidly
Intelligent, one can’t deny
Brought home report cards happily
They were their parents’ pride

But then reality struck, and hard
Hurt more, the less prepared.
It left the two, forever marred
Grades and parents made them scared.

Compared to both their siblings,
Called failures, inside screaming
I stumbled upon these findings,
Felt desperate droplets streaming.
 
Notice the heavy eyelids
Drooping with exhaustion
See them limp and lifeless
Free from life’s exertion.




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