One For All, All For One

One for all, All for one by Kamisah bt Abdul Karim One for all, all for one, Our teacher crooned, on a torrid noon, Her sneaky smile stirred a shake, as our senses began to quake, We did the math, we sum and times, subtract and divide, Found no glimpse of light, well, who were we to brag, we’re no genius of math, Groped our way into the light, greeted by an adventure in delight, Adventure was kind and wise, Fluttered few words of advice, I shall rattle the sleeping ogre to quake in you, But, It will bloom radiant flowers of wisdom in you, The path to thrive would be rough, to remain tough, Teacher declared a new merit to meet, Made our hearts skipped a horrifying beat, Teacher pierced it fiercely loud and clear, “Each one of you must pass my test, OR ELSE, each one of you will get an ‘F’” That’s outrages! Is she serious? We begged for reconsideration, Her decision, as sound as a pound, stood its ground, Driving us stark raving mad, Failed every test, foiled every bash, We began to stumble and fumble, White towels in grip, we shrieked in defeat, “Abort ship!”, Our parents not ready to quit to halt a sinking ship, Told us to lend a hand, to share and mend, New doors were unlocked, blinded to appearance, status and race, Finally, We aced the test, a gigantic burst of pride pulsated in our chests, Tears trickled down teacher’s face as she quavered that phrase, We sobbed silently in apprehension, We acclaimed, One teacher’s passion, Every parent’s preservation, Every friend’s participation, One for all, All for one, No one gets left behind, moving together hand in hand, As friends, as families, as communities, One nation in unity,