2021 CLAIRE KEYES UNDERGRADUATE POETRY AWARD RUNNER UP 

Yijia Zhu

COUNTDOWN

Cicadas are chirping outside the window,

They try to cry out their 7-day-life under sun as loudly as they can,

After ten years underground.

The ceiling fan whirls like it will fall down,

But the heat does not decrease a little.

Books piled on the table,

higher than the girl sitting at the first line.

No one looks up,

In this classroom or the next classroom,

Or the next classroom,

There is only the rustle of writing.

She wipes off the sweat on her forehand.

He touches his wet shirt.

But all with light in their eyes.

The countdown on the blackboard writes: “3 days”.

Yijia Zhu is a Salem State University student from China majoring in English. She loves traveling and reading.