Leaving Home, Finding Self: A Poem on Growth, Uncertainty, and Inner Strength

By Hunter Grimm (2018)

The future is often very scary
When you must leave those you love behind.
You put on a smile and act merry,
While hiding the tears in your mind.

My expression is like a pond—
Still, reflecting calm and grace.
But behind the smiles, a waterfall
Rushes with emotion I can’t erase.

Postponing life for future success
Brings challenges along the way.
Loneliness seeps through the stress,
And casts hope into dismay.

Relationships begin to cease—
Only at home do I feel peace.
Stories forgotten, moments missed,
Make me wonder if I should exist.

Am I making the right choice?
Will I, in the end, rejoice?
Will all my bonds become the cost—
The friendships I’ve made forever lost?

The broken road that led me here
Stirs anxiety and doubt each year.
It clouds the visions I once embraced,
With every step retraced.

The path ahead is dark and blurry,
And the last thing I want is worry.
I pray my intuition brings me peace—
Or has it already caught disease?

College is meant to be a place
Where dreams take flight and minds embrace.
But I will miss home’s warm embrace,
And all its love, its steady pace.

All I can do is hope—
That I will find the strength to cope.