You never can tell when you send a word, <br /> Like an arrow shot from a bow <br />By an archer blind, be it cruel or kind, <br /> Just where it may chance to go. <br />It may pierce the breast of your dearest friend, <br /> Tipped with its poison or balm, <br />To a stranger’s heart in life’s great mart, <br /> It may carry its pain or its calm. <br /> <br />You never can tell when you do an act <br /> Just what the result will be; <br />But with every deed you are sowing a seed, <br /> Though the harvest you may not see. <br />Each kindly act is an acorn dropped <br /> In God’s productive soil <br />You may not know, but the tree shall grow, <br /> With shelter for those who toil. <br /> <br />You never can tell what your thoughts will do, <br /> In bringing you hate or love; <br />For thoughts are things, and their airy wings <br /> Are swifter than carrier doves. <br />They follow the law of the universe – <br /> Each thing must create its kind, <br />And they speed o’er the track to bring you back <br /> Whatever went out from your mind.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/you-never-can-tell/
