HOME was dripping He ran until he was almost exhausted. His face ; with sweat. “Why did that have to happen to Pa?” Tom kept asking himselt as he ran. lay there Tom tripped on a log and fell on his face in the dirt. He . stopped ly sudden then and crying s second for a few “Of course,” Tom said, standing up. “Thank you, God. Thank you for stopping me.” He turned and ran back to the house. “Pa,” Tom yelled, as he ran back to the house. “I’m back.” He Mr. ran into the bedroom, his bare feet slapping against the floor. Tom. at over looked Smithers was very pale. He “Where’s the doctor?” he asked weakly. “Don‘t worry, Pa. Trust in me and God. You forgot about God, Pa. He doesn’t like that.” Mr. Smithers’ eyes closed slowly. Blood still spurted from the wound. Tom knelt down beside his father. “God, please fix Pa’s leg and let him live. Thank you, God.” ‘Tom stood up. “There, Pa, you'll be all right. If you're worthy,” he added. Tom walked into the living room, sat down on the wooden floor, and began looking at pictures from a book he had found. . _— GEORGE MC INTYRE SONNET The dusty sunlight filters through tall pines And falls on brambles, choking grass, with hearts Of wood. The grasses reach for sun but die When weeds entangle hungry roots and spar To choke. In spring the seeds of grass are spread By wind; but seeds of weeds are also sown, And shoots of grass soon rise but soon are dead, And only one cares since more can be grown. A man comes, sprays, and kills the weeds. The grass Grows high but soon is trampled by other men Or cut by men who seem to walk in mass In fields of grass that they help, then condemn. Next spring the grass will spread again and once Again the men will trample it to dust. — GREGORY 26 BROWN KEEPING YOUTH HAVE EVER HOMELY WITS Did you know that many of the expressions you use every day are actually the words of one of the greatest authors ever known? The average person does not realize that he quotes Shakespeare almost every day. Most high school students must read one of Shakespeare’s plays each year to receive a passing grade in literature. Unless the student goes on to college, where he must read a few more of Shakespeare's offerings, he will probably go through the rest of life avoiding Shakespeare whenever possible. A quote such as “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” (2) is the only Shakespearean quote that he will knowingly use. Imagine his surprise if you told him that few days go by in which he doesn’t hear or use at least one line from a Shakespearean work. For instance, when the father of a teen-age boy says, “he has eaten me out of house and home,” little does he realize that his words came from the play Henry IV. Even the most uneducated layman might quote lines from The Merchant of Venice when speaking of his “own flesh and blood.” Though we may hear or use such phrases as “in my mind’s eye,” “it smells to heaven,” “every dog has his day,” and “a method in his madness,” we seldom associate them with Hamlet. How many times have you heard a speaker say, “Everyone knows that ‘brevity is the soul of wit’, so I’ll make it short”. Very few of these speakers have the faintest idea that they are quoting Hamlet. Many older women, who feel Shakespeare is a ‘bunch of hogwash’, will unknowingly use many Shakespearean quotes, such as, “the seamy side” (4), “Wearing her heart on her sleeve” (5), “a woman’s reason” (6), “play fast and loose” (7), and “tell the truth and shame the devil.” (8) Did you know that the traditional “green-eyed monster” came from Othello? _ “It's all Greek to me,” a person might say when asked if he enjoys Shakespeare’s works. Yet, his response is a quote from Julius Caesar. A man whose literary tastes run no higher than Mickey Spillane novels might describe as “a sorry sight” the costumes and characters in Macbeth. Yet, he is quoting from the play which matches a Spillane novel corpse for corpse. “The influence of Shakespeare’s work in literature is both wide- 27