Congratulations to the winner of our poetry contest, Julia Olszewski, 10th Grade
The Strength in Hope
They stood up, the first step, rising,
shaking off the rubble and dust, looking around, taking a deep breath.
They'd been down before, but now was unlike any other time,
for this was the last.
They placed one foot forward, then the next, then the next, to run away from that past,
no longer would they be held down.
The beat picked up,
their heart raced, this was it,
that feeling, that exuberant, ebullient emotion.
The dust, far behind, whipped up like a sheet, and left behind.
The past,
dry, cracking, crumbling,
into nothing but a fading, and fleeting nothingness.
Forget, and conceive the future anew.
Keeping head forward, an oasis is seen,
the green
meadows, the yellows of dandelions, the blue of rippling waters.
Wind, stripping away the dust from their hair,
feet hurting in the most glorious ways,
invigorating each muscle, and awakening.
A wall
a wall was broken,
This barrier holding back so many others,
now ripped to shreds by mere determination,
of an ever growing nation.
“You do not hold me any longer”
cried out into the clearing air.
Breaking chains, binds, to the dark past that can only be
a memory.
With a coarse clearing of the throat,
new words bubbled to the brim, and spilled out.
Words like,
hope, dreams, flight, strength.
Their feet finally made contact with dewy grass, a feeling of rejuvenation.
Salty tears ran marathons down their cheeks,
but nothing had ever tasted sweeter.
For once in this land of dreams,
crescendos crashed, lights and colors,
couldn't have been more beautiful,
and that feeling,
oh such feeling, freed not just the singular soul,
but gave courage to those souls who needed it most.
You, me, the world.
Four words, they envelop a future,
Hope, Dreams, Flight, and Strength.
