The soil of your heart feels hard and dry,
You planted dreams beneath a hopeful sky.
But only doubt and tangled sorrows grew,
And you believe no good can come from you.
They say to pull the weeds and start again,
To only focus on the sun and rain.
They say to think good thoughts and you'll be fine,
To draw a clean and happy, forward line.
But listen closely, here’s a truth to find:
The weeds are not the failure of the mind.
They are a sign that something wants to grow,
A sign the soil has life, deep down below.
For nothing grows on dead and barren stone,
The weeds prove you are fertile and not alone.
That stubborn patch where all your troubles stood,
Is soil that's rich and wild and deeply good.
So plant your new seeds in that very place,
Where sorrow once had left its bitter trace.
Your strength is not that you have had no weeds,
But that you learned to grow among their seeds.
Poet's Note
I wrote this poem because I wanted to challenge the simple advice of "just be positive." I've always believed that our struggles and sorrows aren't just ugly things to be removed. They are a sign that we are alive and that our spirit has the capacity to grow. The idea that our most difficult experiences can become the very ground for our greatest strengths is the core of this poem. It's a message about resilience that is born from imperfection, not in spite of it.