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What Shall I Do? (The Last Leaf Standing) by Liam Shields

Photography by Merrell HattonAs night drops upon my branch

The snow falls upon me

Wind howls its song of death

I know my time is up

What should I do?

All my Brothers lay forth before me

In the barren wasteland below

I have but one question to ask myself

What Should I do?

One by one I hear shouts and cries

To see me fall soon

I can’t possibly live to

See a Summer new

Oh I ask myself

What should I do?

If I fall I shall be defeated

To stay would be a triumph

But this cold gets so much worse

What should I do?

As my tree sways back and forth

My stem gets heavy

Oh no I can’t hold on

This is my time sons

May you carry on

My dream to live forth

I only ask you this

And with that I have made my choice

I shall live on through you

Forever and more

This is my goodbye

And as I drop to the ground

I think to myself

This is what I will do.


Liam Shields


Liam Shields is a 7th grader who lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He enjoys playing lacrosse and PS3, and loves his family and Yellow Lab named Molly.
Photograph by Merrell Hatton
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  1. A reader said on March 2, 2011:

    What a beautiful, moving poem! Liam Shields is VERY talented. I hope to read more of his wriiting here.

  2. A reader said on March 2, 2011:

    This is really awesome.

  3. heidi said on March 2, 2011:

    What a great poem, Liam!

  4. A reader said on March 6, 2011:

    I like this poem a lot.

  5. A reader said on March 31, 2011:

    good job. ur in all my classes. this is creepy!

  6. A reader said on June 16, 2011:

    Liam is a very talented writer and I do hope to hear from him sooner…. This poem was moving and shows a great deal of what kind of person Liam Shields is..