When young and wide-eyed,
As young as 17,
You wonder where the world will take you.
What the world will gift you.
An emotional transcendence from an
educated state into modernity,
Fueled by imagination.
For some, it requires risk,
Luck,
Opportunity.
For others, an invitation.
A golden ticket to follow the Dream.
But some don’t get so lucky.
It’s a gift, to learn.
A gift that gives to others, too.
One that should never be wasted,
or taken for granted,
or discounted.
A package full of allure, and mystery, and chance.
Power held within.
Knowledge as our greatest strength and strongest weakness.
But, who measures the worth inside?
Attractiveness gleams, wrapped up in red, white and blue.
The present that will impact your future.
Only 17, did you know this?
A gift of given chance,
Gilded with hard work,
Glittered with investment.
A guided path of what’s to come rather than a
Dream deferred.
Are gifts better shared than received?
In an imperfect system, do our gifts help others?
Some receive the bigger bows, polished paper, brighter colors,
Others outcast based on heedless review.
Never even opened or used.
Dismissing the worth of knowledge,
Wealth wasted.
Wrecking the perfectly pious nature of sharing
sentimental tributes, donations of the head and heart.
Comparing the size of gifts,
Without knowing the worth of what yours holds.
Will you sit back and watch these gifts crumble?
Allowing darkness to ooze in,
Unhallowing the sanctity,
Obscuring opportunities.
Or, will you look back and wonder what if?
If only you knew you were worth so much.
Worth found in the gifting to others.
Motivation.
Gifts that inside rang of freedom,
Meant working night and day.
Gifts that once unwrapped, revealed,
Contained the keys of potential.
Gifts that practice tradition,
And carry family blessings.
A paved path to academia.
Build upon your gifts,
A particularly powerful treasure.
When you have nothing,
Let the insides shine.
Look to these gifts,
Find the good inside every box.
No matter how big or how small,
The mere essence could change your life,
Sometimes, only at 17.
N is…
- 47 Years-Old
- Male, Cisgender
- South Asian
- Catholic
- Upper Middle Class
- Heterosexual
Author’s Note
I chose to interview N, a professor who immigrated with his family from South Asia to the United States through a family sponsorship visa when he was 17 years old. In our interview, he reiterated the fact that South Asia is a very educated country, yet lacks the opportunities America has. I focused my poem on one line he said, that the ability to learn was the greatest gift he was ever given and is even seen as sacred in South Asian culture. This is what drove him to pursue higher education, receive his Ph.D., and give the gift of learning through being a professor. This assignment was particularly special to me because N is my uncle, and since I was little, I have learned so much about the American Dream through him.