Poems from the Pandemic

Sixth Graders at Vieja Valley School Describe an Extraordinary Year

Credit: Courtesy of Unsplash/Trust "Tru" Katsande

Inspired by Amanda Gorman’s reading of her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Biden’s inauguration, David Nelson’s 6th-grade class at Vieja Valley Elementary School in Santa Barbara began to write their own poems. They first analyzed Gorman’s poems for the many poetry elements she used and then brainstormed ideas, talking about their struggles and sadness over being separated from their friends during the Year of COVID. In so doing, said Nelson, it became a shared experience: “Poetry is a powerful tool that brought us all together,” he said. “We hope these poems give you reason to hope and smile.”

The Art of Living by Cameron DePaco
The Soccer Player by Cecilio Carachure
Miss Corona by Phoebe Caldwell
Internet and Covid-19 by David Duarte
The Golden Morning by Kalae Anderson

The Art of Living by Cameron DePaco

We are committed to a life of happiness
Not a life of division
A life that brings purpose to our country, our people, and our world
A life that will never be broken by those who do not stand with us

This beast has torn us apart
Only for us to find that we’ve never been so close together
To find that through this hardship is hope for a more peaceful world
As we reach into the sunlight
And take flight, as we ignite
So we can fight for this love that will never be lost

What we want is so simple
Yet so, so complicated
Unity, self-love, feeling safe, hope
If only we had the courage to fight for it
To stand for it
To live for it
It would always be in our grasp

Hope is breath in the cold
Although there is only a sliver of it
It’s there; and that’s enough
And it’s born within us

Everything feels gray
Like there’s no point anymore
But we are surrounded by color
Color that will save us all
If we only look for it and share it with one another

This wall that encloses us
Has us calling for help
Falling for freedom
Crawling for courage

We must fix what we broke
Repair what we shattered
We are not perfect
But life does not have to be perfect for it to be wonderful

So while we once wondered:
How can this disease be shattering our society?
Now we wonder:
How can our society be shattering this disease?

We are strong people
Who are fighting for a strong country
A country that will keep us tethered
A country that will never let us break

We are committed to a life of happiness
Not a life of division
A life that brings purpose to our country, our people, and our world
A life that will never be broken by those who do not stand with us

The Soccer Player by Cecilio Carachure

I miss playing soccer with my friends
And going to the beach and watching the sunset
Tired of waiting to have fun
getting bored staying in my house
Sad that I can’t see my friends
It makes me smile
when I Think of being
with friends Again.

Miss Corona by Phoebe Caldwell

I wake up one morning getting ready for school.
and I hear my mom saying there’s a new virus called Corona Virus
I blow it off but little did I know that the Corona Virus would change 2020.
School gets canceled for two weeks, two weeks turn into months,
we start something called Zoom.
The next few months I am stuck inside,
nothing to do and extreme boredom.
When I go on walks I hear six feet please.
I think why does this have to be me.
When I go to stores I have to wear masks.
I can’t see my friends.
Now having to make sure we have a mask before we leave the house.
I ask myself why this virus? Will it ever end?
But then I thought there’s hope.
I think about times with my sisters.
Them being home from college, spending time with family.
Learning new dances.
Learning how to curl my hair.
Getting into makeup.
Texting my friends.
Playing with my dog Lucy.
Finding new songs to listen to.
I go on a lot of walks with my family.
My mom and I go to the grocery store.
Now I think without the pandemic none of this would have happened.
So now I’m kinda thankful for the pandemic.

Internet and Covid-19 by David Duarte

When the internet glitches, that is a flaw in the system.
Having harsh conditions having rain the damp water making its way throughout your receiving end of antenna wirelessly connecting to the box of internet.
Giving joy, sadness, despair, aggression, embarrassment bringing down the internet The flaws of the internet are like a human.
Many make mistakes no one’s perfect, glitches the world calls them. They may happen every so often. But I call them learning steps.
It might be the trigger that sets you off and gets you in a bad mood. But in the tech world With every flaw there’s an update, new model of a device.
So as it is in life make a mistake and learn from it. We will overcome this desperate time of covid 19.
Fixing the mistakes that have been made will bring others but in doing so bringing new learning steps will help the world to be a better place.
Learn from them but in the end it all passes soon enough and in time this pandemic will pass as well.
This pandemic may leave a few scars but it never lasts forever.

The Golden Morning by Kalae Anderson

Seeing friends makes me smile.
The way they smile with their eyes through the masks.
The bright and warm sunlight on my face,
It feels as if nothing bad has ever happened.
The dirt on my hands feels great,
It seems as if I have gone to another world,
Where nothing bad happens,
And everyone just has a good time.

The animation I dream of,
A big scary monster coming,
Slowly creeping up on me then….
Covid comes,
It makes me feel like everything is so far away.
Stores are closed,
People are forced to stay inside,
People that lost their jobs have to beg for food and starve.
We have to wear masks all day long,
No one can do anything.

But on that golden morning,
Everything will be gone, no more hunger,
no more fright no more anything.
Everything will go on to being normal.