Poets' Corner

IF I ONLY WAS THE FELLOW

While walking down a crowded

City street the other day,

I heard a little urchin

To a comrade turn and say,

"Say, Chimmey, lemme tell youse,

I'd be happy as a clam

If I only was de feller dat

Me mudder t'inks I am.

"She t'inks I am a wonder,

An' she knows her little lad

Could never mix wit' nuttin'

Dat was ugly, mean or bad.

Oh, lot o' times I sit and t'ink

How nice, 'twould be, gee whiz!

If a feller was de feller

Dat his mudder t'inks he is."

My friends, be yours a life of toil

Or undiluted joy,

You can learn a wholesome lesson

From that small, untutored boy.

Don't aim to be an earthly saint,

With eyes fixed on a star:

Just try to be the fellow that

Your mother thinks you are.

Will S. Adkin