By Sharon Price Anderson
Sharon Price Anderson, "Fourteen Is Young," Ensign, Feb. 2005, 61
Fourteen is young
to yearn for wisdom,
to study, ponder,
and ask for answers
that will change a world.
But early in greening grove
of a Palmyra spring,
youthful limbs
in outgrown homespun
bend among fresh ferns
unfolding on the forest floor.
A voice speaks fervently,
Father.
Evil, slithering
through confusion
of decaying leaves,
strikes suddenly,
binds the tongue,
strangles the inquiry-
Which one ... ?
Struggling against
impending doom,
the sinking supplicant
prays more earnestly,
Father!
Eternity opens.
Descending light
dispels the gloom.
Believing eyes behold
both the Father
and the Son.
Fourteen is young
to disturb the powers
of darkness,
to learn who God is,
who we are, and
what we may become.
Gospel topics: Joseph Smith, prayer
[illustrations] Photograph by Susan Goines, Superstock; inset: Joseph Smith's First Vision, by Greg K. Olsen, may not be copied