Such weight, suffocating,
presses your tender
head low, crushes
the growth you have fought for,
won by rights of
fair combat. Your blades
at hand, the grass
an ally, springing
new with each new spring
as you unfurl, undaunted
by concrete or abstract
fears, you battle
with gentle persistence
to lift a golden haloed face
to the sun.

Rachael Waldburger is a middle school English and Art teacher in Merrill, WI, and she’s been writing since she was 6. She believes poetry is the best way to connect people across space and time.