Because the eye has a short shadow or <br />it is hard to see over heads in the crowd? <br /> <br />If everyone else seems smarter <br />but you need your own secret? <br /> <br />If mystery was never your friend? <br /> <br />If one way could satisfy <br />the infinite heart of the heavens? <br /> <br />If you liked the king on his golden throne <br />more than the villagers carrying baskets of lemons? <br /> <br />If you wanted to be sure <br />his guards would admit you to the party? <br /> <br /> The boy with the broken pencil <br /> scrapes his little knife against the lead <br /> turning and turning it as a point <br /> emerges from the wood again <br /> <br /> If he would believe his life is like that <br /> he would not follow his father into war<br /><br />Naomi Shihab Nye<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fundamentalism-2/
