The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 79, July 1975 - April, 1976 Page: 465
528 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Collection
THE SCHOOLHOUSE AT FORT GRIFFIN, TEXAS
There was no writing on the wall
that said "ABANDONED," empty hall.
The shell of stone was sturdy, strong,
but gapped where windows, doors belong.
The roof was gone, its rafters ashes,
shingled up by lightning flashes.
The floor of rock and packed down earth
was cracked and scarred from sill to hearth.
No books or benches, slates or tables,
no music, chalk, no lunch or labels.
Nothing left to show the strife
of teaching/learning, playing life.
Just cobwebs weaving shadows hoary,
misting over years and stories,
times and tales of pain and joy,
lore of growing girl and boy.
Outside the wind is whispering, still:
"That kid is here from flat-top hill" ...
that kid alone within the crowd,
untried and shy, afraid and proud.
By rustling creek where sound began
a tree has grown from one pecan,
bringing shade and limbs for swinging,
to welcome every straying being.
The bell alone has stayed the same,
serene, unchallenged, and unchanged,
though buffalo and longhorn steer
did throng the flat from far to near;
though hunters, cowboys, soldiers tramped ...
then moved along to other camps.
Through prairie fire and flood and storm
that bell has clanged to warn of harm.
So quiet now, when it should shout:
"The flood is down! The fire is out!
Replant your hopes! Turn down your fears!
Come back, you fleeing friends and years !"
Under the authorship of Robert Manley, with Joe B. Frantz as consul-
tant, the University of Nebraska has produced Sites and Sounds of His-465
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 79, July 1975 - April, 1976, periodical, 1975/1976; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101203/m1/522/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.