The Sapling

Author's note:  I teach all kinds of people.  One aspect of my research deals with student voice.  Oftentimes in the classroom, students are passive victims subjected to content knowledge not of their choosing.  Where are their voices heard?  Where are they valued in the scheme of things?  Where are they important?

I am a little person

standing in the shadows of giants.

In the forest of trees, my small sapling body

strains to touch

the scarce light reaching the forest floor.

It is blocked out by the bigger trees around me

claiming the light for themselves.

Struggling to speak,

my little voice is drowned out by the cacophony of the others

…and no one hears the message

that

I don’t want to be a big tree like you.

I want to be

a big tree like me.