Potato Sprouts

By Niall Twohig

An Irishman once found potatoes left a year in a cupboard.

They’d sprouted green shoots there in the dark.

Dear students, you’re akin to those spuds.

I see your green shoots reaching through dark.

Hopefully this class opened the cupboard a crack,

enough to let light in,

enough to show you you weren’t reaching in vain,

enough to give those green shoots energy enough

to open the door wide.