The Good Timber

THE GOOD TIMBER

by Douglas Malloch

The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

But stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king

But lived and died a scrubby thing.The man who never had to toil...

To gain and farm his patch of soil,

Who never had to win his share

Of sun and sky and light and air,

Never became a manly man

But lived and died as he began.Good timber does not grow with ease:

The stronger wind, the stronger trees;

The further sky, the greater length;

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.Where thickest lies the forest growth,

We find the patriarchs of both.

And they hold counsel with the stars

Whose broken branches show the scars

Of many winds and much of strife.

This is the common law of life.Be the Best of Whatever You Are

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill,

Be a scrub in the valley — but be

The best little scrub by the side of the hill;

Be a bush if you can't be a tree.If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,

And some highway happier make;

If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass

But the liveliest bass in the lake!We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,

There's something for all of us here,

There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do,

And the task you must do is the near.If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,

If you can't be the sun be a star;

It isn't by size that you win or you fail

Be the best of whatever you are!