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As a junior in high school, I am preparing to become a young, responsible adult.  Adults always paint the picture that life as a grownup is easier in that sense that problems go away. This poem expresses that problems don't go away, they just become different, and that the outcome of your problems depends on how you, as a person, react to it. 

After a While
Veronica A. Shoffstall 

After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn
that love doesn’t mean leaning
and company doesn’t always mean security.

And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of woman, not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.

After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.


And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye, you learn…

Grapes of Wrath

    Uncle John sending Rose of Sharon's baby down the river is a biblical reference to Moses being sent down the Nile river. The image suggests, that the family, like the Hebrews in Egypt, will be freed of slavery and their present circumstances. As Uncle John sends the stillborn down the river, he is sending a message to the rich, or the "upper class" about the struggles of the poor. As John launches the body to the currents, he says "Go down an' tell'em.Go down in the street an' rot an' tell' em that way. That's the way you can talk."  This suggests the baby's corpse is a symbolic messenger.