by Piano Kaewchaiyo (8th)

Do you remember the soap bubbles you blew in elementary school?

Or the friends who you thought were cool?

What about the colorful leaves you painted within the big tree?

Like the library’s scent of knowledge and glee

Do you remember the feeling of running to lunch?

When your stomach was empty, yet you smiled a bunch

Those two front teeth grew in

May you remember the games you liked to win

Games that you played with your friends

It was so real, none of them had to pretend

In your memory, you find a snowflake or two

Winters were filled with surprises, and the sky was always blue

Your grin lights up as you see a present

And today you wish you could have a gift like before

The one you took for granted, sitting around being ignored

Today is your last day of school

Not an ordinary last day, but the last for many

It seems to all fade away

There must be other ways

To hold onto what is lost

It might be gone forever like frost

Which lingering on your window until the Sun comes

Ruining the coldness

Even so, the coldness is replaced by summertime

For the last summer

You pick up the bubble wand and start to blow

Large bubbles shaped like animal crackers

Ones you used to play with as a young child

In these bubbles, reflections gaze into your soul

A cheerful girl, filled with laughter, surrounded by friends at lunch

A weak girl crying when she scores poorly on a test

A gentle girl sketching in her bedroom

An accomplished girl holding up an award

A mourning girl weeping upon a gravestone

A caring girl assisting those who have fallen

A confident girl marching through the school halls

A loyal girl standing up for the righteousness of a friendship

A selfless girl waiting for others to finish a meal

The bubbles shift and change, floating up to the clear summer sky

Evaporating into a drizzle of soapy suds

Raining upon you, the one who refused to move on

Aren’t you scared that you are losing everything?

Every little thing you encountered through your days

From the old into the new

As the bubbles pop, you look into your frail, little heart

Picking up the pieces that remained apart

Mark the calendar day by day

Realize what there is to remember

Remember it all, for these memories may disappear as quick as a puff

Of soap bubbles