Lord, we've had our little wrangles, an' we've had our little bouts; <br />There's many a time, I reckon, that we have been on the outs; <br />My tongue's a trifle hasty an' my temper's apt to fly, <br />An' Mother, let me tell you, has a sting in her reply, <br />But I couldn't live without her, an' it's plain as plain can be <br />That in fair or sunny weather Mother needs a man like me. <br /> <br />I've banged the door an' muttered angry words beneath my breath, <br />For at times when she was scoldin' Mother's plagued me most to death, <br />But we've always laughed it over, when we'd both cooled down a bit, <br />An' we never had a difference but a smile would settle it. <br />An' if such a thing could happen, we could share life's joys an' tears <br />An' live right on together for another thousand years. <br /> <br />Some men give up too easy in the game o' married life; <br />They haven't got the courage to be worthy of a wife; <br />An' I've seen a lot o' women that have made their lives a mess, <br />'Cause they couldn't bear the burdens that are, mixed with happiness. <br />So long as folks are human they'll have many faults that jar, <br />An' the way to live with people is to take them as they are. <br /> <br />We've been forty years together, good an' bad, an' rain an' shine; <br />I've forgotten Mother's faults now an' she never mentions mine. <br />In the days when sorrow struck us an' we shared a common woe <br />We just leaned upon each other, an' our weakness didn't show. <br />An' I learned how much I need her an' how tender she can be <br />An' through it, maybe, Mother saw the better side o' me.<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/little-wrangles/
