reinforcements are coming!

 high school graduation

there are many steps in the process

from birth to the revelation and development of who one is,

I work in the crucible of middle school,

where the innate essence of each student

is buffeted by temperatures and pressures

that can help their mettle grow stronger,

or, sometimes, make it more brittle,

alternatively, I love the metaphor of working in clay--

hoping I can understand that it's all a process,

and reconfiguring can allow 

what didn't center itself on the wheel well,

to center itself through the next attempts,

each next turning seeks to hold

to the vision of what can be,

today was of high school graduation,

a finishing and celebration of many major steps

and a looking forward to the next steps,

I celebrate how much that those I knew in middle school

still seem to show who they were then in who they are now,

I celebrate the gift of those on stage before us,

our world needs their best,

how wonderful that such reinforcements are coming

to the grand efforts our species needs in these trying times.

by Henry H. Walker

June 10, ‘23