TODAY

Let me today do something that shall take,
A little sadness from the world's vast store,
And, may I be so favoured as to make,
Of joys too scanty sum a little more,
Let me not hurt by any selfish deed,
Of thoughtless word, the heart of a foe or friend,
Nor would I pass, unseeing, worthy need,
Or sin by silence where I should defend,
However meagre be my world of wealth,
Let me give something that shall aid my kind,
A word of courage, or a thought of health,
Dropped as I pass for troubled hearts to find,
Let me tonight look back across the span,
Twixt dawn and dark to my conscious say:

"B'coz of some good act to beast or man, the world is better that I live TODAY."

~ Ella Wheeler Wilson