Come all you friends and critics, <br />And listen to my song, <br />A word I will say to you, <br />It will not take me long, <br />The people talks about me, <br />They've nothing else to do <br />But to criticise their neighbors, <br />And they have me now in view. <br /> <br />Perhaps they talk for meanness, <br />And perhaps it is in jest, <br />If they leave out their freeness <br />It would suit me now the best, <br />To keep the good old maxim <br />I find it hard to do, <br />That is to do to others <br />As you wish them do to you. <br /> <br />Perhaps you've read the papers <br />Containing my interview; <br />I hope you kind good people <br />Will not believe it true. <br />Some Editors of the papers <br />They thought it would be wise <br />To write a column about me, <br />So they filled it up with lies. <br /> <br />The papers have ridiculed me <br />A year and a half or more. <br />Such slander as the interview <br />I never read before. <br />Some reporters and editors <br />Are versed in telling lies. <br />Others it seems are willing <br />To let industry rise. <br /> <br />The people of good judgment <br />Will read the papers through, <br />And not rely on its truth <br />Without a candid view. <br />My first attempt at literature <br />Is the "Sweet Singer" by name, <br />I wrote that book without a thought <br />Of the future, or of fame. <br /> <br />Dear Friends, I write for money, <br />With a kind heart and hand, <br />I wish to make no Enemies <br />Throughout my native land. <br />Kind friends, now I close my rhyme, <br />And lay my pen aside, <br />Between me and my critics <br />I leave you to decide.<br /><br />Julia A Moore<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-my-friends-and-critics/
