windows through which light can release itself

Arts Eve, May ‘17

toward the end of the school year,

I often start quoting Yeats in The Second Coming:

cusp after cusp appears

with the choice seemingly weighted toward dissolution,

the better qualities of our nature seemingly in retreat,

a wonderful antidote to such darkening

offers itself to us at CFS Middle School tonight:

Arts Eve, a celebration of the light within,

for which we have found windows that help it 

release and present itself, and the world brightens—

dance and video as a class explore and share

the power of fear to hold us back

and the power of bravery to move us forward

into the strength that the best within us wants to share,

the chorus stands tall and sure and positive

and releases the enchantment of song after song, 

both in the whole collective voice,

and in the virtuosity of two or three voices together,

then into the gallery space where individual visual artists

released and shared what their souls and fingers could produce,

supported by music and refreshments and social camaraderie,

the better qualities of our nature shine brightly tonight,

let us remember to choose, as best we can,

the brighter side of the cusp.

by Henry H. Walker

May 11, ‘17