Listen to the laughter of the brook that's racin' by! <br /> Listen to the chatter of the black-birds on the fence! <br /> Stand an' see the beauties of the blue that's in the sky- <br /> Then ask of God why mortals haven't any better sense <br /> Than to quarrel an' to battle <br /> Where the guns an' cannon rattle <br /> An' to slaughter one another an' to fill the world with hate. <br /> God brings the buds to blossom <br /> Where the gentle breezes toss 'em <br /> An' the soul is blind to beauty that takes anger for its mate. <br /> <br /> Listen to the singin' of the robins in the trees! <br /> See the sunbeams flashin' where they're mirrored by the stream! <br /> Hear the drowsy buzzin' of the honey-seekin' bees, <br /> Then draw a little closer to your God the while you dream. <br /> When the world is dressed to cheer you <br /> Don't you feel Him standin' near you? <br /> When your soul drinks in the beauty of the wonders in His plan, <br /> An' you've put away your passions, <br /> Don't you think the works He fashions <br /> In their beauty an' their bigness mock the littleness of man? <br /> <br /> Oh, I never walk an orchard nor a field with daisies strewn, <br /> An' I never stand bare-headed gazin' everywhere about <br /> At the living joys around me, be it morning, night or noon, <br /> But I ask God to forgive me that I ever held a doubt. <br /> Surely men must walk in blindness, <br /> With the whole world tuned to kindness, <br /> An' all dumb an' feathered creatures fairly bubblin' o'er with glee <br /> To devote themselves to madness <br /> That can only end in sadness <br /> An' to think that they are being what God put them here to be.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/april-thoughts/
