The Weight of Two Worlds

You leave your class before the day is done,

Chasing the clock, not the sinking sun.

Your bag is weighty-- with books and immense fear,

Yet you still whisper, “I’ll make it this year.”

You exchange your notebooks for an apron’s tie,

While everyone else rests, you’re learning to survive.

On your hands lingers the smell of paper, sweat, and dreams,

You weave your hope through broken seams.

You calculate the hours, not just to be paid,

But to affirm your strength in what life has made.

Exhaustion greets you like an old friend’s call,

Yet you flourish again—you give it your all.

You study not only from lessons in class,

But from nights that teach you what won’t last.

You acquire that courage has no degree,

And sometimes faith is your only key.

So to the student who works till dawn—

You are beyond what you carry on.

For while the world rests, you still climb high,

Pursuing both knowledge and a piece of the sky.