Student Poems
By Fiona McHugh, age 13
My mask was carved out of petrified oak
I found it and painted it with pastel blue galaxies
Pink and yellow flowers
Lavender leaves
And seafoam green wind
I carved notches around the eyes with elastic to secure it
My mask has dark brown veins shooting through roan wood
It has journeyed around the world
It started as a small forgotten accessory
in the hands of one of Mansa Musa’s attendants
t found its way into the hands of a caravan trader heading to France
A young girl snatched it from an herb shop in Belgium
And passed it on to her granddaughter,
who was traveling on the Mayflower
It remained in the possession of mothers and daughters, handed down,
And five generations later, a young woman buried the mask and forgot about it
I was in my backyard, planting a vegetable garden when I found it.