First Day

“RING, RING, RING!!!” buzzes the alarm clock,
The digits 6:00 A.M. flashes repeatedly on the screen,
The day that seemed so distant in the future,
Creeping up and jumping out so suddenly.


Time for backpacks,
Time for textbooks,
Time for pencils and pens,
Time for an orderly schedule.


Being dropped off at the front of the school,
Thinking back to 8th Grade Graduation,
Where teachers exclaimed that we are off to
Newer and better places.


High school is our so-called “second home”?
Kids rushing by, trying to dodge your way around older students,
People playfully pushing their friends
Who then bump into passersby.


Lockers clearly not up for the challenge
Of holding high school books,
Its size dating back to the times of pre-school
Where kids kept their supplies in cubbies.


Lunch being meant to sit and chat with old friends,
But coming from a school where the students are separated,
And where most others already have their “group”,
Old friends are hard to find among the sea of students.


A sense of feeling lost in every direction you turn,
Wandering aimlessly from one end of the school to the other,
A simple task of finding the bathroom taking fifteen minutes,
High school is our so-called “second home”?


Homework given out on the first day of school,
Teachers passing out strenuous work calendars,
Heads glancing at the clock,
Desperately waiting to hear “music to their ears.”


But as the final bell rings,
Walking down the hallway,
Thinking to myself,
“I’ve survived my first day of high school.”


And a smile creeps across my face,
Just as the sun creeps out after a rainy day,
Its radiating light fighting to break through the clouds.
Maybe, I can enjoy this new home of mine.