“Ashes of Love” by Marie Akaragwe
September 9, 2024
Alone, sadness filling my heart
emotions rolling like a roller coaster
anger, pain, distress
tears falling like rain
an overwhelming feeling of rage
why, why again
rage on the verge of busting out
Then comes sadness, a feeling I’ve
felt before, a feeling I promised not to feel
again
a feeling of emptiness, sorrow
a feeling of gloom
am lost again
I am hurt but inside a room
filled with gloom
a room with no warmth
a room with not even a single shadow
I am hurt,
left alone with no one but my book
am lost again
waiting to be found.
This poem was written by Marie Akaragwe, as a 9th grader at Alan T. Sugiyama High School with WITS writer-in-residence Monique Franklin. Performed at the Seattle Arts & Lectures Presents event with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson at Benaroya Hall on Monday, September 9th, 2024.