To the shattered stone of my youthful years
In shadows cast by fear, in silence drowned
I make this verse, a tale of walking soft.
On eggshells thin, an unsafe ground.
In the empty halls of my childhood,
A song of tension, a somber score,
Whispers dance on the fragile shells,
Each step, a gamble, an unsteady floor.
The air, heavy with unspoken fights,
A house of cards, emotions held at bay,
A child caught in the storm’s eye,
Learning to tiptoe through the disarray.
Within every breath, a potential storm,
A hurricane brewing in the quiet,
The fleeting peace, an elusive dream,
In the fire of hostility, I stood.
Oh the burden of a child’s tender soul.
Bearing the weight of a fragile home,
Made a puppet in a play of muted screams,
Silent tears, in the dark, they roam.
A dance of caution, a ballet of dread,
Where her laughter faltered, her joy hung by a thread.
Growing up amidst shattered illusions,
A narrative of fragility, bound in seclusions.
Oh, the imprint of shattered love,
A memoir etched of the heart’s worn glove,
In the maze of my past, I crept,
Where eggshells cracked beneath my step.
As I write this poem to the fragile past,
A requiem of innocence, to swiftly cast,
May empathy blossom, understanding gleaned,
For the child who walked on eggshells, unseen.
Amaya Mateo is a graduating senior of Pembroke Pines Charter High School. Her poem “Childhood Symphony,” which she performed on stage at this year’s Poetry Slam, won first place in the rhymed verse category of the 2023-24 PPCHS Literary Fair.
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