Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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The Long Walk A walk of seemingly infinite length Stretching across the campus to the center of college life— Early each morning I hurry up the walk, Racing with the clock before it strikes eight. In the fall, the trees along the walk are bleak and dram atic, While smoke floats lazily, circling the tree-tops, In winter snow falls like a blessing, Whirling down, wrapping the trees in blankets of white, Bending boughs to make new tree shapes—all its own. The scene changes with the next snow, Giving me a vision of veiled figures, As if a great lace-maker had been at work, Fringing the boughs in delicate, fragile white. Then at dusk, the wind blows, more snow falls; Gray clouds hang heavy, snow falls softly, Whitening the gray skies; silenily and gracefully, Its feathery cool touch lingers on my face, caressing it. Truly this exquisite beauty will linger long In the recesses of my mind, And in years to come, I shall remember the Long Walk, Its grandeur a large part of winter's panorama. —Lavon Hepburn.