middle school is daunting

 the challenge of middle school

every middle schooler wants to do their best,

though the path forward is fraught with doubt,

which way is best?

can I handle the effort 

of what needs to be done,

despite how inadequate I feel?

their social awareness comes at them with excruciating weight,

as everybody else seems to them to have it easier, more together,

whether in looks, in academic ability

in sports, in art, in singing, in just who they are,

many hope to be the best

so that comparison can help them feel of value,

finding reassurance in competition and success,

the zero-sum of feeling good

in that they are better than the other,

each fears they are the worst:

nobody else as bad at a class, 

a game, a friendship, how they look,

I often feel middle school is a trackless wood,

within which each questing soul 

can find it far easier to get lost

than to find a good way forward,

impulse pulls at them to go astray,

the way forward is often obscured,

but whenever the way opens for a young person,

whenever that young person chooses that way forward,

I cheer!

by Henry H. Walker

February 17 ‘22