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You tell what you are by the friends you seek.
By the very manner in
which you speak
By the way you employ your leisure time
By the use you make of your dollar and dime.
You tell
what you are by the things you wear
By the spirit in which your burdens you bear
By the kind of things at which you
laugh
By the records you play on the phonograph.
You tell what you are by the way you walk
By the things of
which you delight to talk
By the manner in which you bear defeat
By so simple a thing as how you eat.
By the
books you choose from the well filled shelf
In these ways and more you tell on your self
So there isn't really a bit
of sense
In any effort of self pretence.
Today
Today I will do all I can
To make myself a
better man
Ill help a neighbour on his way;
Ill do a kind deed, and ask no pay,
Today I will try to improve
my living
By being tolerant, kind and forgiving:
I'll live a life that to others will be
An example of love and
charity.
Today I will do all I can
To make others happy and smile again,
In helping others,
I will help myself
To find a life of happiness
Cottage By The Sea
I was born in P.E. Island, the garden of the Gulf;
I played there on
the seashore, a happy little elf.
But, Oh! The years fly swiftly by how well I remember the day,
When I told my loving
parents that I was going away.
I went to America, as many girls had before;
I got work as a housemaid, and did
the humblest chore.
I cried myself to sleep at night how lonely one can be,
When far away from the folks you love
and the Cottage by the sea.
I've travelled over America, and foreign lands too;
They all have wonderful attractions
which might appeal to you
But now I'm at the Island how happy I will be,
To spend my summer vacation in the Cottage
by the sea.
The folks I've loved have passed away;
Strange children play on the shore they build their castles
in the sand,
As oft I did before; they dream their dreams
Of many things, not knowing what the future brings.
My
home is now in California, many thousands of miles away;
This is my farewell visit for, I'm eighty-two today.
So,
farewell to Point Pleasant the place so dear to me,
And to all my loving memories of the cottage by the sea.
Written
August 1961
Myself
I have to live with myself, and so
I want
to be fit for myself to know.
I want to be able as time goes by
Always to look myself in the eye.
I don't want
to stand with the setting sun
And hate myself for the things Ive done.
I don't want to hide on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself as I come and go
Into thinking that no one else will know
The
kind of a man I really am
I don't want to cover myself with sham.
I want to go out with my head erect
I want
to deserve all men's respect.
Here in this battle for fame and pelf
I want to be able to like myself.
I don't
want to look at myself and know
That I'm bluster and bluff and empty show.
For I cannot hide myself from me
Nor
from my God who loveth me
And knoweth all I say and do,
So to HIM I would ere be true.
I want to live so honestly
That He will be well pleased with me.
You don't have to tell how you've lived each day,
You don't have to
say if you work or play.
For a wondrous barometer serves in its place,
However you live, it will show in your face.
The sin and deceit that you wear in your heart
Will not stay inside where it first got its start.
A hypocrite's
smile is a thin veil of lace;
What you have in your heart will show through your face.
If your life is unselfish,
if for others you live,
Not for what you can get but what you can give,
If you live close to God in His infinite grace,
You don't have to say so it shows on your face.
in your face.
Mack's Garden
This summer on the island
it surely was a flop
It rained and rained every day
we thought it would never stop
Mack kept working in his garden
the diggin' it was slow
But he put in lots of fertilizer
as that would make
it grow.
At last it was finished
and everything looked fine
Then he waited patiently
to see if the sun
would shine.
Eventually the plants came up
all in a nice straight row
So he added some more fertilizer
just
to help them along you know.
But when we went out next morning
it was a heart-breaking sight
The fertilizer
was so strong
it burned them all that night.
So he started in next morning
and dug it over once more
Altho
his hands were blistered
and his back was very sore.
Now our gardens growing
we have vegetables to eat
So
all we want for dinner
is some of Ellies meat.
Mack thought his troubles were over
but oh! What a riff
When
he went out next morning
everything was frozen stiff!
Today the sun is shining
but the garden is no more
So we will go back to San Diego
and buy it all in the store.
1963
The Vessel Belle
I was just a small little country girl,
From
P.E. Island shore.
My Father was a Sea Captain
On the waters I adored.
So when I reached the age of ten,
My
Father said to me,
"You are now a big girl, Maggie,
You may come on this trip with me."
At first my Mother
hesitated,
Then said that I may go,
So I threw my arms around Daddy
Because I loved him so.
Soon we were
sailing out towards the light
Oh, how I loved the ocean when no land was in sight.
Then I could stand by Daddy
And
watch the waves at night.
And when we were safely into port
Once more he would say to me,
"Now get dolled
up, Maggie,
And well see what we can see."
We would go to the Salvation Army
I loved the music so;
Then
we might go shopping,
Or sometimes to a show.
And soon the vessel was unloaded
And loaded up once more,
And
everything was ready
To start for home once more.
It was late in the season
And Christmas was very near
On
that December morning
But the sky was good and clear.
Soon we were underway and sailing out once more
Thinking
of all the gifts we had put in store
For Mother and the other folks
When they would meet us at the shore.
But
we had not sailed very far
When the winds began to blow
And then we struck a hurricane
With hail and sleet and
snow.
Soon the sails were frozen stiff,
They could not make them low
So they cut away two top sails
And
also a jib or so.
The storm it raged all through the day
At evening Father came below
And put me safely in
the bunk,
The vessel was rolling so.
He got a heavy blanket
And tucked me in good and tight,
Now, he said,
"you go to sleep
and dont be afraid tonight."
But I stayed awake all through the night
And prayed to God that
He -
Would take us safely home again,
Out of that raging sea.
My brothers feet were frozen,
And so were
some of the crew;
But my Father stood behind the wheel,
To pilot the vessel through
They fought the storm
all through the night
And when daybreak came once more,
We found we were entering the harbour
Near Murray River
shore.
We put the flag at half-mast
So folks on shore would see
That we were having trouble
After battling
the heavy sea.
Soon we saw them shove a boat
Over the ice and snow.
To get to the open water
So that they
could row.
They took the frost bitten men ashore;
I also had to go,
But I did not want to leave Daddy
There
in the ice and snow.
But he said, Now you just run along,
Ill be cosy as can be,
When I get the fire aburning
And have a mug of tea.
They took us to their homes that night;
I remember to this day,
How they put their
feet in tubs of snow
To draw the frost away.
The next day it was nice and fine
And we set sail once more,
And soon we were safely landed
At home quite near the shore.
Mother had a big Plum pudding;
The goose
was roasting slow;
She knew we would be home for Christmas
Even if the winds did blow.
They say I am a dreamer
But I can not sleep at night,
I make up these verses
Just to keep my memory bright.
But now Im on the
island
I can reminisce once more
Of all the things that happened
For now Im eighty-four.
1962
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