Oak Grove Coburn High School - Oak Leaves Yearbook (Vassalboro, ME)

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OAK LEAVES 1947 TO A CAGED WILDBIRD Oh foolish, futile bird, Oh valient, broken heart! Forgotten was the pain And bruised the restraining bars, When some of thy dauntless pinions Broke, and fioated to the stars! K. S. WALKING IN FOG There is an attitude that goes with walking in fog which is as vague and intangible, and yet actual and perceptible as the fog which creates it. Both erase the harsh outlines of reality, and blend near and present objects with those farther on. Fog envelopes the body and lifts it from the visible world, 'wraps the soul in mist and carries it beyond the conscious. They blend reality with fantasy, and seen through them, it is not strange that voices are without source and hopes without basis. Both give a chance to dream without sleeping. Perhaps their only common denominator is God. Fog is a mood. Not a disturbed, wavering condition, but one that lets a person examine his own soul and feel it with his hands, with no one around to criticize irregularities or condemn individuality. Life is better for a few hours of fog when one can hear a bird and not see its cage. Fog lends its mystery to the soul and lets it peer unobserved into unex- plored corners made wonderfully light by the darkness of the fog. And yet fog is not comprised of darkness. It is the very presence of so much light that nearly blinds one-in such a state the soul is free, the body gropes in its accustomed manner. It is a relief to walk in fog where the soul reaches new paths and meanwhile finds the tangled forest lovely, covered by the mist. PAULINE STRAWHECKER, '48. THE CHILD The forest was very cold, still and gloomy on that late December evening. Icy fingers of cold seemed to creep ,through the trees, to crawl in under the fur coats of the animals and into the feather-downed birds. Nowhere could any warmth be found. The deer lay quivering in their little shelters while the partridges shivered in their leafy beds. The lwise old owl hugged his wings closer. When the night was so calm and peaceful, who would have 26

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OAK LEAVES 1947 thought that so many of its inhabitants lay in cold misery awaiting the dawn? Suddenly, ouit of the night, came a light. It gleamed high in the heavens and yet it seemed close because it was so large and bright. Its light beck- oned to the freezing animals in such a way that they were compelled to watch and follow it. As the light moved away to the east, the animals moved after it, all in complete fellowship with one another, all with a single purpose-to follqw the star. The deer next to the fox, the weasels by the rabbits, the birds Hying low and circling over the animals' heads with-no fear. All were forgetful of the cold as they crossed the fields and plains of Bethlehem. They saw three camels coming over the desert with three wise- men on them, they saw shepherds. They saw many men and animals, who had been attracted by the star. As they banded together, man and beast intermingling, the star came to rest over a stable. It was a plain, ordinary stable, but it seemed to glow with an inner light. The men quietly entered the lowly place and the door was left open a little so the animals could look in and see that 'which had come to pass. As they stood with heads bowed in reverence, they were filled with an inner warmth and they wondered at it, but as they wondered they saw an angel of the Lord standing by the manger, and they knew that this was the son of God. J. S., '48, 27