“Eighteen and Rising,” captures the transformative moment of a young woman stepping into adulthood with both precision and passion. The poem mirrors her newfound determination. Drawing on technical imagery such as blueprints, ledgers, and rising structures, the poem juxtaposes a challenging past against the promise of a self-made future. As the girl leaves behind the remnants of hardship, she steps into a role defined not by external constraints but by her own strength and vision, embodying the sentiment that with the right structure and systems, the future is hers to command.

Eighteen and Rising

Eighteen years of lessons etched,
Of wages tallied, futures sketched.
Blueprints bloomed within her mind,
A system forged, precise, refined.
No fickle luck had paved her way,
Just grit and plans, come what may.
A childhood clocked in borrowed time,
Where measured steps began to climb.

She watched the gears of hardship grind,
Each turning cog, a truth to find.
That hands which labour, eyes that see,
Could build the life she longed to be.
In quiet thought, her path she traced,
Her careful plans, her rightful place.
A ledger filled with debts and dreams,
A schedule taut, where purpose gleams.

Each honed skill, each tool she kept,
Would serve her now, where others slept.
The threshold crossed, the moment near,
Her desk, her chair, her vision clear.
No harsh commands, no binding chains,
Just self-made strength, where freedom reigns.
The structures rise, the systems bloom,
Her time is now, she claims her room.

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