Serving It

From the Rock Island Argus, November 2, 1912.
By Duncan M. Smith.
 

 Lift up your eyes and look about
     And get your money’s worth,
 For lying fair before you see
     A great old little earth.
 The view is very wide and bright
     And pulsing everywhere,
 And not a picture in the world
     Can with the sight compare.
 
 Lift up your eyes. Don’t focus them
     Upon the lowly ditch
 The while you brood upon your woes
     And wish that you were rich.
 Before you lies a waiting world,
     All joyous, bright and fair,
 And, with the others of your kind,
     In it you own a share.
 
 Lift up your eyes and take a look,
     For everything is free,
 And no admission need be paid
     And no outgoing fee.
 The brook, the meadow and the lake,
     The clouds that grace the air,
 The mountains and the restless sea
     Are there for you to share.
 
 Lift up your eyes unto the hills
     And let your soul expand
 As in the broader, wider view
     A man newborn you stand.
 Take heed of nature’s wondrous works,
     Whose beauties you now miss,
 And, though you may be poor in purse,
     You shall be rich in this.