Planted in Progress

One little seed,

With a little life that has growth ahead,

One little seed,

With a little life that has progress ahead.

The seed is suffocated,

Sitting in the dirt,

Two inches deep,

Two inches from freedom.

The little seed feels it will never make it,

Never become a tree,

Never see the sun,

Never breathe the fresh air and tower over people.

However, the seed tries,

Pushing hard, pulling itself up toward the sky,

It tries,

Not giving up, though there is doubt.

A blue sky peeps through the dirt,

A warm sun shines on the seed,

A hole forms in the dirt,

Hope is renewed.

The sky turns gray,

Pouring with rain,

Covering the hole, the light,

The hope.

But the seed keeps going,

It picks itself up,

Rising from the dirt

Becoming a sprout.

The seed has time,

It will grow into a big, beautiful, healthy tree someday,

The seed has time,

But it’s happy with its progress.

Camille Ruekert

Camille Rueckert just finished seventh grade at Decorah Middle School. She enjoys reading, writing, softball, volleyball, and hanging out with her friends and family.

We created Future Focused, a new Inspire(d) column written by pre-teens and teens, to help give the next generation an opportunity to share their voices. Partnering with Dana Hogan, the Extended Learning Program teacher at Decorah Middle School, we offered prompts around progress, growth, success, and overcoming difficulties. Students submitted some really great work, and four were chosen for this Inspire(d). You can read all the Future Focused pieces published so far at iloveinspired.com/category/future-focused. Here’s to Listening to the Next Generation! – Aryn

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