Gavin Liu, G11, BASIS International School Shenzhen

In the stillness of the night,

I wait for the clock

to strike and seal my fate.

Like a nuclear scientist

poised for the final blast,

I wait for that last digit —

twelve — to be cast.

Five, four, three, two, one. Silence.

Like another dormant bomb,

I lean back, wrapped in

the cold, stinging sea breeze

penetrating my skin to join my veins.

No balloons, no cakes, no gifts

to unwrap. Not even a message,

a phone call, a momentary snap.

No. Silence still reigns on

this dark October night.

Life feels not like a crossroad,

but an expansive plain, empty

of signposts, leaving me

to wonder, uncertain, and in vain.

Yet, the clock ticks, each

second a reminder to no longer

remain a dormant shell. I

shall stand tall, fueled by dreams

that resonate.

That bomb, it did explode.

Like a clarion call, its sounds and echoes traveling,

delayed,

until one day, when

ambition rises and finally booms.