The student's incredible poem has gone viral in less than 24 hours. Photo / Supplied
A teacher was left speechless by her 10-year-old student's work after she asked her grade 6 class to write a poem about dyslexia.
The proud UK teacher, Jane Broadis, posted her student's poem on social media on Thursday, saying she was blown away by how clever the piece was.
"Today we looked at poems that could be read forwards and backwards," Jane wrote.
"I was stunned by this one written by one of my 10-year-olds."
The poem, titled "Dyslexia", begins with the line "I am stupid."
It continues for several lines, revealing how dyslexia meant "Nobody would ever say I have a talent for words."
"I was meant to be great. That is wrong. I am a failure."
The melancholy poem continues in this vain for two more verses before the student, known only as "AO", pens an instruction to "Now read up."
The beauty of AO's piece is suddenly revealed when read in reverse, line by line.
His same words suddenly change into an empowering message to the reader to never give up despite the challenges life throws at you.
"Nobody could ever convince me to think that I am a failure," the poem now says.
"That is wrong. I was meant to be great. I have a talent for words."
Today in Y6 we looked at poems that could be read forwards & backwards. I was stunned by this one written by one of my 10 year olds. Please share - I would love her work to be appreciated further afield. I wonder if it could even find a publisher? pic.twitter.com/tmEQpiRrhq
— Jb5Jane (@Jb5Jane) February 27, 2019
Broadis said the poem moved her to post it and made her realise how important her work was.
"It is a privilege to help find, nurture and celebrate the talents of children," Broadis wrote.
The post went viral in just a few hours and has been liked more than 140,000 times and shared by more than 42,000 people.
Thousands of people praised the young poet's skill in conveying the struggles associated with dyslexia.
As the mom of a teen with severe dyslexia, who was told repeatedly in grade school that he would never succeed, please tell the author this is the most insightful and beautiful poem I’ve ever read on the subject. -proud mom to a dyslexic honor student who proved them all wrong
— Amy Eldridge (@amy_lwb) February 28, 2019
One man called the poem "wonderful".
"I was called stupid by my Year 6 teacher. Three years later diagnosed with dyslexia," he said.
"We just see things others can not."
Many people also praised Broadis, saying she "must be a wonderful teacher".
But according to Broadis, all the credit was owed to "my little poet".
The Year 6 student was clearly smarter than most adults; many admitted they had taken her instructions too literally, reading the poem backwards "word for word, not line by line".
I was reading it backwards like “life in it make can I” and was like.... this doesn’t make any sense and then I realised. Why is this child more intelligent than me
— Calum McSwiggan (@CalumMcSwiggan) February 27, 2019
The poem also attracted the attention of established writers, poets and publishers who have since offered AO the chance for her poetry to be published in their books and blogs.
The young poet has also been asked to write for publications.
Excellent work. I would be very happy to publish the poem on my blog. https://t.co/1RVVTYZ9Sn https://t.co/opTEO5I2HK
— Brian Moses (@moses_brian) February 27, 2019
Jane, I am in the process of writing a book about dyslexic children and their families! I would love to include this poem in the book!
— Peggy Webb Hendrix (@PWebbHendrix) February 27, 2019