The stars are apart~ By Pinky Ho

in my classroom i see students as stars
my stars sit far apart from each other
not just a social distancing measure
a gap is always here – the achievement gap
the pandemic just exacerbated it further
due to social and economic factors
the advantaged ones achieve a lot better
the disadvantaged ones risk falling behind
to close such a gap i must be a dreamer
at school they sort students into winners or
losers and unrecognized those in failure
isn’t it through failure they grow stronger?
like to the stars in darkness they shine brighter
for some reason the stars are apart up there
some are more recognized than the others
but all never cease to shine with their power
big or small i gaze and gaze my heart cheers
if i believe students are powerful stars
brightly they will shine like never before
bright in their way sparkling now and ever


Author Bio:
Pinky Ho lives and teaches English in Macau. She holds an MEd in Educational Psychology from the University of Macau. As a teacher, she applies the science of Psychology to enhance teaching and learning. Recently, she has started to incorporate ideas from Educational Psychology into poetry writing. Poetry writing is a pastime for her mind. Her poems have previously appeared in Voice and Verse Poetry Magazine.