Page:Negro poets and their poems (IA negropoetstheirp00kerl).pdf/283

Dig deep and let the long roots hold
A firm embrace within the mold:
And may your life in truth unfold
⁠A strong and trusty oak.

Come, let us plant a supple ash,
A tree to bend when others crash,
And stand when vivid lightnings flash,
⁠And clouds pour down the rain:

So while we plant we’ll learn to bend
And hold our ground, tho’ storms descend
Throughout our life, and lightnings rend,
⁠And clouds pour down the rain.

Then let us plant these trees between
A graceful spruce in living green,
That e’en in winter days is seen
⁠Like changeless springtime still:

And so may you as years go by,
And winter comes and snowflakes fly,
Be yet in heart, and mind and eye,
⁠Like changeless springtime still.

Bring out the spade and hie away,
And let us plant a tree today
While skies are bright and hearts are gay,
⁠And April breezes blow.

In other days ’neath April skies,
Around this tree may joyful cries
And happy children’s songs arise,
⁠While April breezes blow.

—D. T. Williamson.