Raphaela Mae Cayabyab

About the Poet

Maria Raphaela is from the Philippines and currently studying at Pristine Private School Dubai in Year 8.

She enjoys loves reading and writing whenever she can. One of her talents is poetry writing, which has been nurtured mostly through tasks at school. She believes that one of the best ways to express her feelings towards an issue is to have it written in words.

But, nonetheless, she is keen on learning and experiencing new things and taking on challenging opportunities. She has also applied for the Prestigious Sheikh Hamdan award this year.

Our Seed

We started off as two separate drops of water

Separated in the huge world without a bother

Two individuals, nothing but strangers

Thinking the other one doesn’t even matter

Suddenly, we are swallowed into this force field

This seed that we someday may nurture

We talked and talked, slowly becoming unconcealed

With no idea what might happen after

A sprout poked its head out from the ground

Neither of us knowing what it’s bound

Overtime, it gradually abound

Our friendship felt special, it was spellbound

We reached the point where our friendship became evident

The ‘best friend’ stage , as some may say.

Where being without the other seemed irrelevant

Everyday seemed like a spring-fresh day of May

The sprout turned to proper plant

A fine, lengthy stem

We now knew each other by heart

So well, like a mother and her infant

The plant grew more, not by size

But rather by the length of its branches

We started drawing a bigger circle,each

making connections and tying ties

Soon, branches started growing out of this plant

Multiplying as the day goes by

Rapidly, these circles grew

But never once did they touch

We were drifting further away

Waves pushing our ships apart

The plant of ours extending its hands sideways

The plant that we soon might depart

I look back, at the plant we sowed,

Now with drooping leaves, paling and browning

I feel like it’s me. I’m missing something I owe.

But no, it’s also us that needs fixing

I miss that special thing we used to have

Hanging out together, enjoying time

But, someday, we will do that once more

Blooming a flower that we should have once headed for.

About the School

Pristine Private School (PPS) adheres to the guidelines laid out by the British National Curriculum and nurtures students from Foundation Stage to A-Levels. PPS was established in 1992 and is situated on an approximately 100,000 sqft campus in the Al Nahda 2 area of Dubai.

PPS provides a challenging and supportive environment serving students of multi cultural and diverse backgrounds. It is a learning community which offers first class academic programs and a comprehensive array of sporting, cultural and performing arts activities.

Our purpose built school campus consists of spacious class rooms, science and computers laboratories, rich libraries, a fully equipped clinic, art studios, a multi-purpose auditorium, several outdoor play areas, a swimming pool and a fully equipped sports ground.