The Contrariety Of Our Existence
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Deanna Parkinson, Grade 12, Roma Mitchell Secondary College -
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Poetry
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2018
Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition
What are your plans for after school, they ask.
What will you do with your life? Where are you going next?
I say: I don't know. The universe is big, but we are small.
Our lives are but a fraction of time;
a split second with which to make a difference.
Art may brighten the world, and maybe science can heal it.
But what difference could I make? One person out of billions.
I am fighting through a sky of uncertainty, being pulled in all directions.
Do this, do that, life is short, they say.
But life is the longest thing I'll do, so oughtn't I enjoy it?
Why waste your life living by others' expectations when
you will have to live with yourself for much longer than with them.
We all die alone, so do not go with regrets.
How will you make a difference, they ask.
Perhaps I will, perhaps I will not, I reply. But at least I will
Live.