Keanu Gomez Assignment 2

Inextinguishable Flame

High school,

The stepping stone for greater things,

Reaches out to me with an open hand.

I accept it half-heartedly,

Yearning for a brighter future.

As a freshman I adjusted

To the crowded halls,

To the hundreds of people.

Shoulder to shoulder,

But just another obstacle to overcome.

Junior year was a hard beast to tame,

Like a hydra.

Choices had to be made,

Disappointments had to be faced.

After each one even more emerged,

Only to be ceased by flames.

Most days are the same.

The lifeless letters and words

Stare at me from the page.

The sounds seem distant.

And the world seems faint.

After high school I will be renewed.

Like an exhausted phoenix

Who will rise from the ashes,

Leaving a trail of inextinguishable flames

As it soars to the sky.

I intended to convey a disappointed and lackadaisical tone for the first part of the poem, to show my loss of interest in high school. I used words like: “half heartedly”, “lifeless”, “distant”, and “faint” which all contain a similar connotation to my intended tone. I used short, simple sentences in the 4th stanza to show emphasize my boredom caused by high school. I alluded to the mythical hydra since the growing of heads were symbolic for the many obstacles I faced during my junior year, both as a person and as a student. I created a shift in tone during the 5th stanza to show my eagerness and hope for college. The simile and imagery concerning the phoenix were used to convey how the struggles I faced during high school will prepare me for success in the future and college.