ANNYEONG

A Message to Readers: 'Annyeong' means 'goodbye' in Korean. Additionally, it is an informal way of saying 'hello'. The significance of the title is, that the end of school is both an ending and a beginning, and as someone who is passing out this year, I am trying to accept this duality. I received my result a few days back and it marked the end of my school life in a very official manner. This poem may not do justice to the years I spent in the yellow building a few minutes from my house, but it is the only way I can, at this point, express how much I already miss it. Maybe you can read it and remember how your school days were, and tell me if you felt the same way when it was over.

(Photograph from Pexels)

A tiny fist wrapped around Mother’s finger,
Nervous and apprehensive, as the building,
Yellow and uninviting loomed closer,
Different from the home she recognized.
 
The squeaky, black shoes made no mark
On the stairs as the three-year-old trotted
Up, entering a lobby full of other children,
Some crying profusely, others observing.
 
A lady, taller than Mother, but with the same
Warm smile walked up to her, bending down,
“Is your name Irene?” she asked, and lifted
Irene up, in her arms, as gently as possible.
 
“All these people will be your friends,” she said,
But Irene, believing it wrong to respond to strangers,
Continued to not speak, resorting to wait for her mother:
She had promised to be back soon, with sweets.

***

Fifteen years ago, on a Monday morning,
Irene had first felt the sense of wrongness,
When it took her mother, not fifteen minutes,
But three hours to return, to take her back.

 Now, standing in front of the same building,
Taller, more confident, better at interacting,
Even with strangers, albeit warily,
She knew her life was going to change, again.
 
Irene smiled at a small scar on her hand,
A wound long healed, from when she cut
Herself while preparing a gift for her teacher
Whose birthday only she knew about.
 
She turned to look at the vendors,
Who, every day without fail, lined-up,
To sell food and toys to children,
A place where friendships were patched up.
 
She regarded the football field with respect,
A place where punishment, for all crimes,
Was handed out; ten rounds of the ground,
No stopping, no talking, and no walking.
 
All the plays she had acted in, on and off stage,
The times she had stolen food from her friends,
Assignments she had blamed her dog for eating
Were memories, part of her happy place.
 
An era, with ups and downs, tears and laughter,
Coming to an end, was harder to accept, despite
Having prayed and wished for it, every single day
When the alarm rang at 6:30 AM.
 
Irene straightened the hat, she had earlier
Tossed for a graduation photoshoot,
Having decided to keep it with herself,
As a souvenir, of goodbye.