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.