Imagine life as a chrysalis
You begin within a shell
Transparent and hollow
And slowly you grow
To fill that shimmering prison
When you grow big enough
Your booming voice shakes
The cage and you ask
Why you are trapped within the chrysalis
Outside you see webs of gossamer
Dreams and things you think
You’ll never touch
Oceans of stardust
You’ll never drink in
But one day
You notice something
You are growing so much
The cage is breaking around you
Crumbling like glass
Pouring away like sand
The chrysalis can’t contain
One such as you anymore
The glowing world, so alive
Has so much to say to you
You’re ready
You’re of age
You thought you were scared
You thought you couldn’t make it
But you grow
And keep growing
And you fill the oceans
With your life
And when you pass
When your dreams
Are fulfilled
When your time is up
Not frittered away
Spent meaningfully
You will look back
At the start of your life
At the little bits of the chrysalis
Left within your satisfaction
And you will laugh
Because you made it
You made it
First equal (seniors)
Jacob Cone
Year 13, Kaikorai Valley College