Westfield Student's Poem, For Uncle Who Died Of Covid, Wins Award

WESTFIELD, NJ — Shirzad Mustafa, a junior at Westfield High School, found out last month that he won the Silver Key Award from the Scholastic Art & Writing awards for one of her poems.

His poem, "The Artist," was written for his great-uncle, who died last September of coronavirus.

The Scholastic Awards, open to teens across America, have been given over the years to many young artists who became well known for their craft: Stephen King, Tschabalala Self, Andy Warhol, Charles White, Joyce Carol Oates, and Kay Walkingstick.

Mustafa's teacher was M. O'Hare.

The poem:

The Artist

I’ve inherited a century-old clock
But it doesn’t really work
It’s not here to tell time
It tells of a boy who could rhyme.

The clock belonged to the governess
to her, he recites poems, stuttering shyness
A farewell present, a reminder of a dream
that once someone had treasured him.

The clock chimes him awake, silently looks
The youth craves canvass and paint, not books
Regretful laugh, his heart’s a fool
Bound for bank work, not art school.

The clock strikes noon, collecting life’s new tale
Man’s Taj diorama waits beneath magician’s veil
A beauty for him at last, he’s made her velvet flowers
She stares, uncomprehending, and cowers.

Decades-old clock misses a beat, maybe longer
Man mends it, getting no younger
Grown children, not inclined to form or verses of joy
So, he hobbies alone, sculpture and curved toy.

The clock’s not there for the last painful breath
I’ve missed his life as I missed his death
Within colorless walls, void of beauty as if to mock
And selfish, foolish me, left with the damn clock.

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