BAS Poetry: A Rose That Grew From Concrete

Broke-Ass Stuart is now accepting poetry submissions to be featured in the BAS Poetry: Arts & Culture column. Written & curated by Corinne Avganim.

Euclid Garden in full bloom

The first time I heard of Euclid Garden, I immediately thought about Tupac’s A Rose That Grew from Concrete. My friend works with them on a pro-bono basis and told me about the work they do with young people age 13-17 being released from YGC (juvenile incarceration) – facilitating in the development of therapeutic gardens in group homes where the kids reside until they age out as official “adults” (whatever that means). I thought about how lucky I am to have avoided the state’s correctional and foster systems, and how strong these youths must be to still believe in the beauty of a world that is so clearly fucked. I thought about the hard work that goes into cultivating a garden and the pride that starts to bloom with the first blossom of a bud. I thought of Tupac.

I did a bit of my own research on the org and found these words on their site under (believe it or not) a photo of Tupac’s poem painted on their garden wall: “we bring Plants, Poetry, Passion, and the Patience it will take to make Positivity blossom in the walls of our city’s group homes.”

It all made sense and actually kind of bugged me out. It seemed too kismet, like I was supposed to make these mental and physical connections. If nothing else, I’m pretty sure the universe wants me to recirculate the timeless words of Pac:

A ROSE THAT GREW FROM CONCRETE

By Tupac Shakur
Oakland, California

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack
in the concrete
Proving nature’s laws wrong it learned 2 walk
without having feet
Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams
it learned 2 breathe fresh air
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else even cared!

Oh, universe! You so cray. As I was getting ready to tell Stuart my post was ready to publish, I found this:

See y’all there? The universe wills us so!

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To submit a poem, email poetry@brokeassstuart.com with your 100% original piece of work, full name, age, city, links to social media, and (optional) biographical blurb.