Snippets of Life

Exams

When you hear the sound of pen

Scratching paper

In a room so quiet

You can hear the fan whirring

And someone exhales a breath

And another pushes his chair

And the clock ticks away the minutes

What do you feel?

Air filled with the insane panic

And your mind going quietly mad

And the frantic rush of beating hearts

The sound of answers being called

That little something being

On the tip of your tongue.

And you can hear

The intangible sounds of others

The quiet, slow, panic

That dances around in your chest

That dances around in your mind

And the inevitable feeling that is

Wanting to leave

Wanting this all to be over

Wanting this to be done.

At last the clock signals

The end of the exam

You sit back

You exhale

You wonder if you wrote enough

You wonder if you wrote your name down

On every sheet of paper

You wonder if you will pass

And the itching fear

That annoying voice

A little devil you harbor in your ear whispers

"You won't."

So you pray

You pray God helps you

You pray He grants you wisdom

You pray He grants you favor with the teachers

You pray your parents won't get mad

You pray you'll be okay.