COVID-19 continues to affect how we do our work at Write Back but our commitment to elevating young voices remains unchanged. Below are a selection some of the wonderful pieces produced by our young writers whilst our normal in person sessions have been paused.
Echoes
4:30 am.
Awoken by the voices, I lay lifeless and dead. Insomnia.
Why do they follow me? When will they leave me alone?
That same voice that echoes and groans, that trails and stalks me. Their words hurt, they scar me, leave me battered and bruised. I cannot help but be seduced by the voices. I want to be me; but the voices keep following me, they torment me.
I can hear them mumbling, I can hear them screaming and weeping. They kill my soul, my self-esteem, my being. I am consistently being stabbed in the heart, still paralysed by the murmurs.
It is 4:45. I lay lifeless and dead. Insomnia- she is still here.
Still pursed by those shadows and the darkness, I always thought that the darkness was by my side, that nightfall was a blessing. A new day arises and restarts at 00:00, the moon comes and goes, the darkness comes and goes. But now my thoughts have shifted, my mindset has changed.
The darkness is only beautiful because of that glistening moon above us. But the darkness alone is an evil prospect, one that I feel I will never understand. The shadows can be beautiful with the light that complements it - but the shadows alone can destroy even the strongest of minds.
I call myself the moonchild. I am attracted to the moon in ways that I cannot explain, indulged in curiosity and wonder. It’s a part of myself that I feel embarrassed of, ashamed of. I am shy and I do not feel like I fit in anywhere but, through my sadness, the moon rises every night and it always shines through the darkness.
It is 6:00. WHY IS SHE STILL HERE?
I am flooded with questions! Insomnia. Insomnia, she always follows me. She watches me sleep; she awakens me in my dreams, echoes, and groans.
The Moonchild
Mums and Dads
Did life decide to kick you or did life give you the fuel to keep going?
I really at this point don't know what is best. Without a kick you don't see things from the side of struggle which makes you less adaptive if bad situations happen in later life. However, not being kicked makes you have a happier childhood.
Who knows what parents you had and if they gave you the power you need to grow and develop in the correct way or not. If they let you struggle in a hole of what is deemed the unknown or give you guaranteed success.
See because what most people are blind to is that your success is not really determined by your natural abilities.
You know why? Because your parents do most deciding for your future and intelligence when you are young.
Your mum’s and dad’s actions from a young age have the most influence on you than anyone ever will; the way you learn, the future behaviour of your future self and most importantly the perspectives of work, love, and other activities in daily life that you have are all influenced by their actions.
Conceiving of what to have for dinner or who the love of your life is and your abilities to have these things is the golden job of your parents. The way you communicate with others, your personality with certain people, and even what you wear are all influenced by very important people in your life today.
All these skills which are necessary for the daily challenges of the world and what are deemed to be your abilities in personal and professional life are not even decided by you but mostly by the people you love and cherish every day.
How does that make you feel?
Drops a big hole within you doesn't it? Makes you think of what your mums and dads are like and how, maybe just maybe, you could have been even better then you are today if your parents had just done the golden job a tiny bit better.
Now don’t get me wrong, we all make mistakes. However, limited mistakes and making decisions slowly with logic behind them is better than going on instinct.
Developing a child is a task that is so precious and cannot be taken for granted. You, a human being with no specific purpose, are being tasked with the responsibility of bringing up a child that will be the next human being to live on our earth but more importantly will develop the next stage of our planet and help define our future.
You, that one person looking at this page, take the decision of having a child seriously because it's no small talk and not something to play games with.
You will be physically and mentally in charge of that child's life. No matter how hard you try to make it easy, it won't work. Your child needs your full readiness and preparation financially, mentally, and physically for every possible event and outcome, more importantly, to make that child’s life the best it can be with your lead down the right path!
So I ask you one thing?
How are you going to develop your child in the future, for better or for worse?
Duality
The moon’s duality baffles me.
There is a dark side to the moon, that nobody sees, never exposed. The shadow that covers it.
There is always a side of which contains pain and sorrow, there is always a side which contains anger and confusion. No matter what, it is always there. It never leaves, it is always there.
Duality, duality.
It looks so beautiful in the sky, always looks untouched, flawless.
But there are always two sides to everything, two sides to every story and there is always a part of you that you never want to be seen. A part of you that is covered with flaws, so you hide behind a mask, but the shadows always remain, they always linger behind you.
It will never leave you!
Don’t forget to check out our full e-book for many more stories from young people responding to the challenges current circumstances have raised. Just click the link below!
