when you’re seventeen and the world’s on fire
by Samantha Roehl
12th grade, Cherry Hill East
when you’re seventeen and the world’s on fire
prom is replaced with pandemic
and senior year with social isolation
and you think that maybe you shouldn’t
have wished so hard for 2020 to be like the 1920s
and your inbox is full of colleges you didn’t even apply to
reassuring you that they are doing their utmost to keep everyone safe
and by “keep everyone safe” they mean kicking everyone off campus
and still collecting tuition
and you borrowed 20 books from the library before they closed
but now they might be closed for longer than expected
and you’re afraid you’ll run out of books
and what kind of person are you?
to worry about running out of books when people are
running out of food
running out of masks
running out of hospital beds
and what kind of people are we?
to ignore a pandemic until it reaches us
because caring might be an inconvenience
and you know what kind of person you are:
you’re seventeen
and you’re scared
and you’re allowed to be scared
but the world doesn’t stop just because it’s on fire
