The Hallways Still Echo

eight hours, one day a week,

for eleven years of my life.

what began as a mandated routine,

another school day ontop of a school week—

became a Rhythm of my Being,

a Heartbeat Stitched into Heritage.

not just a place I went to,

but a Home that Raised me,

Not just a place that worn me,

But an Escape from the “country of freedom.”

its lessons, laughter, and love

built more than knowledge,

they built Identity. 

from the scrawny enscribed desks

to the couch tucked away so lovely corner of the bathroom, 

somehow every dust speckle is coated with a Kaytan DNA. 

tiny four leggers ripping through the halls, 

whom I once was–

only Cloakes an experience I only now once Wish would never skip away. 

Now nostalgia sits beside me,a gentle ache in my chest.it feels like a cloudheavy with all I wish to relive,and I’m just beneath it—stuck under an Umbrella of Time.

I thank the peers who doubted me,

for teaching me pride in my roots.

I thank the teachers who challenged me,

for showing me that resilience matters more than perfection.

I thank the children who taught me joy,

beyond any lesson plan.

And I thank this place—

for the reality it gave me,

the truths it whispered,

the soul it shaped.