My Warrior (Emily Holyoak, 2020)

Poetry assignment Summer 2020 at Central Washington University

Where will I be when you’re too old? 

I am a delicate orchid in a field of shattered glass

Unable to uproot for fear of falling flat

Have you shaped my future as you’ve hoped? 

Have the roars quieted, the crashing waves silenced

The honking buses, the fire alarms? 

You’ve held my hand, I’m afraid to let go

Society turns the glass pieces to sand,

Where I’m unable to grow and learn. 

I’m swimming without a rope

Flying aimlessly without a paddle

The air between my eyes  pressing together,

And the noises slither through my ears,

scratching at the inside of my skull.

Draw up your sword

March forth into the amber  waves.

Please draw every breath with a purpose 

Let me live vicariously, can you be my voice

Until one of us leaves.