A Fleeting Joy

• Cameron Sewell, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2021

millions of mutterings, hundreds of voices
filling silence with empty words
not one can penetrate the deafening white noise
thousands of talkers, not one of them heard

through the discordant hubbub and bustle
a voice, barely above a whisper
a note of hope, so very subtle
a ray of sunlight in an eternal winter

she raises their spirits, she sets them free
a purpose, a meaning, a chance,
she effortlessly cuts through the ennui
raises their hopes, makes their hearts dance

then the spell fades and they return to their lives
reminiscing the time they spent enthralled
the knowledge cuts into their souls like knives
they are burdened with the knowledge that their lives could be more