KidSpirit

What Shall I Do? (The Last Leaf Standing)

The Question of MeaningPoetry
Artwork by: Merrell Hatton

As 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 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.

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn