Made It Through The Day

• Sinead Boss, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2016

Born into a colour that is already fated
for a life of Black with no chance of white
for a world that is tainted, you must learn to fight

Ten and you start to understand
that living in silence is legislative
you freedom is banned, you cant be creative

Sixteen and still throughly trapped
the light beam can’t get through the black you must learn to adapt, no time for pay back

Eighteen and you’re out of the system
accustomed to the lack of privilege
a plausible future is distant, black now swarms your image

Twenty Five travelling to work guerrilla style
the world we live in will tear you apart
your people are angry and hostile, your ‘rights’ you know by heart

Forty and you've served your time in a cage
fenced up like an rabid animal
a life of minimum wage, wishing you were valuable

Sixty and you know the end is near
the mask you have lived will soon be gone
you're life has been everything but clear, like running a marathon

The End has come and you survived
you soldiered through each phase
freedom you were deprived, you made it out of the maze

Hero you are for enduring
all the blood, the rage and disdain
you are a legend securing, a place where you are sane

You are a Hero, because you made it through the day.