Sonnet to Mission-bound Sons and Daughters

By Martha Pettijohn Morrise

Third Place Eliza R. Snow Poetry Contest

From guarded reservoirs of life, we spill

You forth, young streams, to gather droplets, grow,

And spread abroad on thirsty acres, fill

A wilderness with emerald foliage, flow

In freshets prisming the morning sun.

Then may you nurture beauty all along

And bless the favored channels where you run,

While rippling laggard pebbles into song.

Soon, distance will divide you from this source,

Your harbored innocence. We set you free,

Unfettered in your press to seek the course

Which must reflect your choice, unerringly.

We could not, would not, stay your fluid feet.

We watch you go and count our portion sweet.

Photography by Jeri Ann Barrus