Gazelle Zauditu Menen Goodwin, 12, F, ‘Beautiful Disaster’ (poetry)
About the Author – Gazelle is a 12 year old grade 8 student of the Island Academy School, who has a passion for visual arts, music, natural sciences, information technology, and world affairs. She is the 10th of 11 children and says, “I believe that success depends heavily on one’s own intrinsic motivation so I always push myself to do the very best that I can.”
About ‘Beautiful Disaster’: The poet describes it as being “about the beauty and the tragedy that was brought about by the global Corona Virus Pandemic. Listening to and watching the news daily, I was disheartened by all the pain, the loss and the sense of hopelessness that prevailed. However, being an optimist, I chose as well to find the good that was beneath all the gloom and hence the title ‘Beautiful Disaster’ because even in this somewhat hopeless moment, there is still BEAUTY.”
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‘Beautiful Disaster’
On a sombre day in December
When the world was busy playing
There upon descended Corona
A silent killer, all betraying.
The cries were loud, deafening was the clamour
The hopelessness it bred, seemed to last forever
But, in the midst of it all, there was a beautiful disaster
For we all had the chance to focus on the things that matter.
Like family, and the togetherness we’d lost
Like mother earth, and how she had been suffering because of us
Like slowing down, reflecting and re-evaluating our pace
And taking time to cherish, whatever time we had left in this place.
So yes it was, a beautiful disaster indeed
Covid 19 or Corona, out of ugliness beauty breeds
Our world has changed, humanity perhaps better for it
A beautiful disaster, if ever nature saw fit.
This is one of the winning entries in the 2021 Wadadli Youth Pen Prize Challenge. Please respect each writer’s copyright.
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