Student poet reflects on things missed during quarantine

May 13, 2020 | Blog

Quarantine. 

We are stuck at home today
All we do is wash hands and pray
That one day we will return to normal.

 *

We sit in quarantine wondering when it will end
Wanting to see our friends again
But everything is on hold. 

*

We heal with our families
At 7 we clap with the crowd
But there is still something missing. 

 *

We are all bubbling up in our homes
Wanting to do something, go somewhere
But there is nowhere to go. 

 *

Cars and trucks usually rumble down my street, but now the roads are empty
Families have picnics and games in the park out my window, but now the park is bare
Everything is lonely and everyone is gone. 

 *

I never realized how much I missed those sights. 

 *

Where there are usually dogs barking and skateboards grinding there is silence
Where there are usually kids squealing and the squeaking of swings there is quiet
The turf is hushed. 

 *

I never realized how much I missed those sounds. 

 *

Normal will never be the same 
We will never act the same
We will never think the same. 

 *

We are stuck at home today 
With our families together 

Standing together, 

United. 

 Emeka Guindo is a sixth-grade student at Brooklyn School of Inquiry