James Thomas Hazard
Of all we can be
What would you have?
To make the face of the human race
The one you see in the mirror?
Cast words like the wings of fireflies free
To fly from the harvest of ages
And set the human mind
As gears and cogs are mastered?
Plant a garden in the shadow of walls
Permitting one flower to grow
And be loved?
Would you build a palace
With a light at the open door
Or a city of iron gates
Bolted and rusted by tears?
Of all we can be
Born unmarked by chains
On paths that end we know not where,
What would you have?