The Conservatory

My TV screen has over 1,000 pixels,

it’s techni color,

no longer the black and white

the world used to be.

 

I watch the nature from afar,

trees and other plants,

wildlife in general .

 

When I walked through the conservatory doors,

I finally saw the beauty of this world in screaming color,

the purples, blues, greens, yellows,

shades I had never seen before.

 

The world I had watched behind a screen,

was there before me.

 

My hands could feel the coolness,

my eyes could absorb their brightness,

my ears could hear the gentle sway of leaves in the breeze,

and I could finally breathe without being told when or where.

 

And at that moment,

I did not need food in my mouth going to my belly,

to find sustenance for I had witnessed a brightness I had never seen.

 

— Zuheera Ali, 12th Grade