Dedicated to the class of 2009
Rise to the occasion like bread that’s made with yeast,
kneaded well by bakers’ hands,
turning famine into feast
Rise to the occasion. Be a sprinter up the hill;
breathless with the effort,
a force of nature and of will
Rise to the occasion — like a plant that seeks the light.
Grow beanstalk — tall and strong and proud
to reach sky-scraping height
Rise to the occasion: Strum the tightrope in the air
with grace and poise and balance.
Climb higher than you dare
Rise to the occasion. Don your magic capes and fly
like super heroes gone aloft
while gravity you defy
Rise to the occasion, like helium-filled balloons —
or butterflies with flutter wings
who have shed outgrown cocoons
Rise to the occasion! Stand up and take a bow
for this day so long in coming
affirms your time is now.
Wendy Graetz Hoglen, an award-winning poet, wrote this poem for her daughter Nerissa who is a member of Kauai High School’s class of 2009. Nerissa is a winner of a National Merit Scholarship and will be entering California Institute of Technology as a freshman this fall. Wendy recently had her first short story published in the fall 2008 issue of Hawai’i Review. It is entitled ‘IM.’
