Can't Look Up

• Zahra Fouladi, Grade 7
• Poetry
• 2018

Those times when I read a book,
I’m so into it I cannot look,
At the place surrounding me,
Because of what I know I will see.
I will see a girl thriving for her life,
I will see a boy holding his knife.
I will see a man being shot in the shoulder,
And I will see a woman being chased by a boulder.
I will see the seas come crashing down,
Upon a lovely, little town.
I will see the fires spread far and wide
Until children have cried and people have died.
That is what I know I will see,
If I look to the place surrounding me.
I will have nightmares if I look,
Up while reading a war book.