TO NEW YORK For maid and lad New York is fairy land, Delightful charms in gorgeous brilliant lure! Our youth do struggle on ambition's tour. They meet life's challenge with true heart and hand. Forgotten trails are marked with scar and wand; A blasted rock and broken twigs assure The traveler that others fought the moor, And sailed the stormy breakers, crossed the sand To build the city on a granite slab. They tamed the wilderness, a sturdy clan! Retracing paths recall the glory made, Lays bare the secrets of the field and lab. Such tours give hope for future life and plan. Brave men have set the torch with ax and spade. MEET THE CHALLENGE The coddled youth, like greenhouse plant Will wilt and die in desert sand, Can never meet the storms of life, Untried and mild and soft his hands. He walks within the favored nooks, Protected there much more than those, Who meet the challenge face ahead, And struggle on to conquer foes. They learn to take the gaff and thrust, And from an inner courage gain A faith in toil and love of truth; They pray to God to ease the pain. WINTER A glow of life shines from the leaf-stripped limbs, In sheltered nooks snowbirds are singing hymns. The sycamore shafts gleam and shine afar, Down by the river where the black oaks are. The goldenrod now droops his fuzzy head;