It never seemed lonely under sunbeams where she’d bask
Remembering the rippling summer stream where she’d flow
Near where the savory-sweet red mulberry would grow
She melted with the soft sounds of birds chirping
Every creature was content, the fox never went lurking
Perhaps it was the soils that kept all inhabitants serene
Or the light touch of the water’s shimmering gleam
Finding this place to enthrall her inquisitive young imagination
Wandering thoughts of becoming a flower built her fascination
So many exquisite beauties to choose from, and so little time
Would she become a charming carnation, or be stuck as a pine
A hanging wisteria over a misty garden wall she longed
O, but to be a water lily floating on a hidden forest pond
Pondering seemed to be all she would do during her summers.
Obsession would fill her mind, it would soon overcome her.
Each passing day she’d worry about whether she’d bloom.
Never enjoying the day drifting each passing moon
Blocking out the chirping birds and rippling of the stream
Nothing excited her, not even red mulberry or soft light gleam
Everything seemed so right when she’d get lost in her work
Too late to realize she’d worn out like her grass-stained skirt
Every summer she’d ponder, and each summer she’d miss
All those summers pondering, she would have one more to wish.
Regretting losing touch with the present, and letting life slip on
Promising never to be complainant, wanting no longer to dwell beyond
She listened to the bird’s lullaby and reposed in tranquil soil
Accompanied by the olden fox, red and loyal
The wind’s euphonious melody put her heart at ease
Laying her head on pillows of grass under the weeping tree
Her final breath as this form and exhaling to quite a wonder
Her soul inhabits the willow dwelling in the spot of her summers
No more is she dissatisfied with any time well spent
She wishes for nothing more, she is finally content
-- Yzabella M., 9th-12th Grade