First Place - TRW Creative Writing Contest

Why Reading is Important

They whisper love will trump them all
But I believe that it can fall
In words we find an endless way
For passioned reason to hold its sway

Of Romeo and Juliet
Their love was true, but fixed, preset
Did not the stars still twist their fate?
So love was killed with burning hate

I’ll tell you now where lies power
One needs not life to stay alive
It’s through the words which we devour
We find a way to learn, to thrive

Immortality, the only path
To not incur a fearful wrath
Is paved with words set forth to last
Since words hold true, hold strong, hold fast

To read is, so, to honor life
And free oneself from pain and strife
For strength of that, the written word
Is truth one gained, one’s mind conjured

A world half yours, a world half real
A wondrous place for all to feel
It opens gates to endless sky
Where only fools need wings to fly

--Lily Ting, a senior at Indian Hills High School