Both poems demonstrate how people can look past a physical appearance and find beauty within other aspects of a being. Although weeds are generally considered to be the ugliest of plants, Koyczan states that there is beauty in a weed that has grown “through the cracks in the cement … because it doesn't know it's not supposed to grow there”. Merriam’s poem also features a plant, this time a ginkgo tree, growing amongst concrete. Merriam, too, finds beauty and value in a ginkgo that has been “thrust against the metal sky”, conditions which make it difficult for anything to grow. Merriam compares the ginkgo to the more aesthetically pleasing willow tree, saying that though the willow is more beautiful physically, her “heart goes to the ginkgo”.
