Graphite pencil

Isn't it strange how princes and kings,
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And common people, like you and me,
Are builders for eternity?

Each is given a list of rules;
A shapeless mass; a bag of tools.
And each must fashion, ere life is flown,
A stumbling block, or a stepping-stone.

-R.L.Sharpe

In childhood's dark, we hew and hack
Till youth's veil, at long last, falls back,
And we hope all doubts will dispel-
A block or stone? No one can tell.

With this trick Nature's tries to teach,
That She's granted a choice to each;
To mount the stone with no grumble
Or curse the block when we stumble.

-RdH