BY HALLIE DONG (staff writer)
Acceptance,
A seed,
Planted deep within
Earthy soils
Smelling of home,
Right before a summer storm
It wiggles until it fits,
Perfectly,
Embedded between beds of moss
And surrounded by the falling
Of petals.
But when will it bloom?
Will it be soon,
When the foreigners come,
Drenched in despair and the rain of change?
Will it be soon,
When the new student peeks
Her nervous head into a classroom?
Will it be soon,
When the ones around you realize,
First,
So you don’t have to
Stand out,
Seemingly
Alone?
Will it be soon,
When next year,
You have to visit the place
Your mother
And her mother
And her grandmother
And her great-grandmother
All called home,
So you escape,
Narrowly,
The boulders of heavy stares
Laden upon your back?
No,
It won’t.
Then,
It will be too late.
Instead,
Water your seed
Of acceptance
With kind words,
And love,
And understanding,
And starting from yourself,
Letting the little seed grow,
And grow,
And grow,
And stretch its branches and its evergreen leaves,
Reaching towards the sky,
Towards a hope,
Towards a future
Where we all exist
In peace
And in love,
The seeds of acceptance in
Radiant bloom,
All
Season
Long.
