Story Contest 2017 #2 - Outstanding Stories (Sub-junior) » A Poem To Heal

“A Poem To Heal” is one of the outstanding stories of the second biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 written by Kayley Yip, Hong Kong.

A Poem To Heal

“Hi” My name is Chrissie, I have a disease called Cerebral Palsy. It limits my body but not my mind.

Growing up, I could not roll over, sit, crawl or walk as other children should at the age of 1. I had stiff muscles, poor coordination, and terrible control over my body. At the age of 7, I was finally enrolled in Washington Elementary School. And by the time I was 9, everyone at school labeled me the “naughty kid”. I didn’t want to be “naughty” but I just couldn't control myself. During classes, I shut my brain off because I knew that I would fail, that I was never going to be as good as the other kids in my class. I failed in my classes, I failed at making friends, and I failed at life. When I received a bad score on my tests, I would have tantrums over and over again. I was sent to the principal’s office like a million times about “controlling my behavior”. Loneliness built up in my heart.

One day, in 5th grade when my 10th birthday came, my teacher started a poetry unit. I assumed it would be another subject I would fail in so I easily laid my head on the table, waiting for this to be over. But I guessed my teacher was fed up with me not paying attention in class, so she handed me a worksheet and urged me to do it. I looked up at her then back down at the piece of paper. I studied it for some time, picked up my pencil, held it like a weapon and began to work.

I felt like a new person entering a new world of poetry. Rhyming things- cat, bat, hat, chat, was like a kiss on the cheek from writing itself. The rhythm thudded steadily like a heartbeat. The imagery could be so vividly imagined in my mind. Words, sounds, phases, lines and verses were dancing and prancing around my body waiting to be released. Poetry wrapped its arms around me and lifted me up to its shoulders. I tried in classes and realized I could be smart in my own Chrissie way. I felt a flood of confidence spread through my body from head to toe like a release of energy that had been pent up for far too long. For the first time in my life, I felt like I am not sick anymore, I was healed by the power of passion for poetry.

Poetry is in me, within me, a part of me. It flows out of me like a river from the soul.