Congratulations To Elisa! Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

Elisa, Congratulations!

Elisa, congratulations for your great day!
For today you pluck the fruit of your labour
For today you can shout to the whole world
That you have made it in spite of
the difficult Danish language,
in spite of the emptiness and tiredness
as a divorced woman, a mother
a stranger and a breadwinner.

Elisa, congratulations for your great day!
For today you can look back your old
story, your pain in the heart and torture in
the soul of being left alone and hurt to the bone.
For today you can declare that you have changed
the thorns into roses, you have shaped the tears
into ripples of gladness,
you can mark this day as your success.

Elisa, congratulations! For your graduation
is a window to the test of your will as a person
of your courage to stand in all the seasons,
your dreams fulfilled with faith in your Creator,
your faithfulness to your family and friends.
Elisa, congratulations!
For today you stand as a new person-
a person with many possibilities
a person you have chosen to be
by the education you have attained.
Tillykke!

_______________


For Elisa`s graduation