Westfield Senior Writes Poem Encompassing Graduation Emotions

WESTFIELD NJ, — Graduating during a global pandemic is a heavy topic to grapple with, but one Westfield High School senior put his thoughts into a poem.

Shirzad Mustafa is a senior at Westfield High School and considers himself a NYC transplant. "The poem is in recognition of the uncertainties my fellow classmates may be feeling (even as things are hectic and exciting)," Mustafa said.

In addition to poetry, Mustafa said his interests include politics, environmental justice, and immigrant issues. He is also passionate about Japanese literary forms and comic art. His manga-based TikTok channel has 382,000 followers and has conducted research on how manga and anime can help with mental health literacy in youth.

Check out his poem:

Graduation

Summer’s rite of passage so close
But trapped in between states.
So many thoughts, not expressed
Conversations not had.

No abundance of school memories
Merely lingering comments
Adventures started, never finished
Hangouts abandoned.

Year’s lessons crammed into weeks
Learning curdled into bitterness
Vulnerabilities onto essays, forced
Virtual tours blended.

Keen anxiety bubbles and ascends
Too fast to savor rare triumphs
Bonds and laughter, overshadowed
Our futures mortgaged.

Lives punctuated at all the wrong places
How do we reset our worlds?
If just race rats, mired in daily grind
No pause to rest our head?