All I Need

If I were stranded on a desert island-

The one thing I would need is a raft-

but not neccesarily one made of wood.

I would need a raft made of ideas and innovation- 

tied together with thoughts and actions. 

I would need a raft that is not only buoyant in water-

but buoyant in adversity. 

Because, for many children, it seems

that the road to college is like escaping from a shipwreck-

when there aren't enough lifeboats to sustain the sinking economy.

We have all had moments of sinking, of desertion, and of fear.

But the fact that we all are still here-

still breathing, blinking, and doing-

is proof that there is some buoyancy to the soul. 

So, this next generation must fight-

with the billions of rafts made of spirit-

to let up the anchors that have weighted them since birth-

because the only way to survive on an uncharted course-

or a desert island, or a dark city corner-

appears to be navigation, in the spirit of innovation.