‘Concealed’ by Tristan Chudasama, age 14, Year 9, Coleridge Community College

Lathered in the mind’s deceit,

Muted walls, choked in bleach.

A facade maintained – yet built

To advocate for society’s safety.

 

And yet you sat there.

Confined, split apart,

For “justice”, for “truth”.

Just washed away; hidden.

 

Corroding relentlessly

From eddies and torrents

Of racial prejudices.

Society has no advocate, just a bystander.

 

And so we sat there.

Our voices numbing,

For our truths, our rights,

Since we are society itself.

 

And yet we sat there still.

For days; for nights,

Their stares daggers,

Burned in us senseless