poems31

LIFE SCARS
They say the world is round, and yet
   I often think it square.
So many little hurts we get
   From corners here and there.
But one great truth in life I�ve found,
   While journeying to the West,
The only folks who really wound
   Are those we love the best.

The man you thoroughly despise
   Can rouse your wrath, �tis true;
Annoyance in your heart will rise
   At things mere strangers do;
But those are only passing ills
   This rule all lives will prove:
The rankling wound which aches and thrills
   Is dealt by hands we love.

The choicest garb, the sweetest grace,
   Are oft to strangers shown;
The careless mien, the frowning face,
   Are given to our own.
We flatter those we scarcely know,
   We please the fleeting guest,
And deal full many a thoughtless blow
   To those who love us best.

Love does not grow on every tree,
   Nor true hearts yearly bloom.
Alas, for those who only see
   This cut across a tomb!!
But, soon or late, the fact grows plain
   To all through sorrow�s test;
The only folks who give us pain
   Are those we love the best.
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Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He, who can call today his own:
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
Be it fair, or foul, or rain, or shine,
The joys I have possessed in spite of fate, are mine;
Not heaven itself upon the past has power;
But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.
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STARS IN DARKNESS
Darkness makes us aware of the stars,
And so when dark hours arise,
They may hold a bright and lovely thing,
We might never have known otherwise.
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AS YOU GO THROUGH LIFE
Don�t look for the flaws as you go through life;
   And even when you find them,
It is wise and kind to be somewhat blind
   And look for the virtue behind them,
For the cloudiest night has a hint of light
   Somewhere in its shadows hiding.
It is better by far to hunt for a star
   Than the spots on the sun abiding.

The current of life runs ever away
   To the bosom of God�s great ocean.
Don�t set your force �gainst the river�s course
   And think to alter its motion.
Don�t waste a curse on the universe -
   Remember, it lived before you.
Don�t butt at the storm with your puny form,
   But bend and let it go o�er you.

This world will never adjust itself
   To suit your whims to the letter;
Some things must go wrong your whole life long,
   And the sooner you know it the better.
It is folly to fight with the Infinite,
   And go under at last in the wrestle,
The wiser man shapes into God�s plan
   As the water shapes into a vessel.