W. T. Smith

Stark

By W. T. Smith
Hanover High School, Grade 11

Lay faith upon the chopping block,
With thought set close at hand––
I'll bear the blade of ignorance
To seek to understand.

And what survives the chopping block––
The pruning of a soul––
Will last you in your farthest walk
And carried, keep you whole.

So bare yourself in ignorance
And let yourself be shown;
Without your faith to cover you––
With naked love alone.

What it Takes

By W. T. Smith
Hanover High School, Grade 11

When you can say "I love you all," and still know where you stand,
When you can bear your people through, and still protect the land,
When you can't watch a good man fall and not reach out a hand,
Then maybe I will suffer you--
Just try to understand.

When you can be at peace with both your self and fellow man,
When you can turn the other cheek and worry for his hand,
When you can give all you have and still make no demand,
Then, perhaps, will I look up,
And watch the way you stand.

When you can keep your promises and never speak a lie,
When you can answer questions as you look me in the eye,
When you can bear the weight of all the world without a sigh,
Then, perhaps, I'll hear you out,
If you can tell me why.

And when you can still be human, be you hated or adored,
And when can you never let yourself be silenced or ignored,
And when you can not be glorious; stay humble, in a word;
On that day will I follow you--
For you will be my lord.

On Eloquence

By W.T. Smith
Hanover High School, Grade 11

What would we give for eloquence?
Would we change what we had to say?
What did we do with innocence?
Did we lose it along the way?

How many times are decisions made
By the words that we know how to use?
And how often do we give our dreams away
Because we have to choose?

So if you speak a different tongue,
Will you dream a different way?
So strange how often dreams are hung
On what we have to say.