
What do you do when hope grows old—
Like a lively fire turned tired and cold?
What do you do when milestones pass,
And life feels broken, like shattered glass?

What do you do when hope grows old—
Like a lively fire turned tired and cold?
What do you do when milestones pass,
And life feels broken, like shattered glass?

I have two paper dollars—
Just look right here and see;
And while they’re both a dollar
They appear quite differently.
For one is bright and crisp and new,
Not crinkled, creased, or worn;
Where the other bill is tattered
With an edge that’s partly torn.

The breeze washing over me, from where does it come?
The passing bumblebee, how does it hum?
The chasing birds, how do they fly?
And why is it blue—the heavenly sky?

This Christmas I’m alone and single.
Sleigh bells ring with a hollow jingle.
The bells, you see, aren’t quite as fun
When they ring-ding-jingle just for one.

Worthless, crumpled little leaf—
Cast off without a care;
Set upon the listless wind,
Carried here and there.
You’re not but nature’s clutter
To disgrace a pristine lawn;
The only want we give you
Is we want you good and gone!
And the Lord within the Manor
Sees you only as a chore;
He’ll have to rake and bag you
Which is irksome all the more.

Doing laundry is such a chore.
Sort the colors? I ask what for?
Then throwing whites with red and green,
I toss them all in the wash-machine.
But all my smugness turns to dread
When all the whites go tie-dye red!

Deep in fairy forest,
A cheery fire burns—
Around it dance the leprechauns
With mesmerizin’ turns.
Their ginger hair a swirlin’,
They sing of misty dreams,
Of brilliant archin’ rainbows,
Of gold that ever gleams.

I want to be a rose—all proper, trim, and neat;
Raised above the common, in her elevated seat.
She is the lover’s flower, evoking ooohs and aaahs,
The flower for which the world smiles in admirable applause.
And when she goes a walking, she spreads a fragrant scent,
That travelers pause in wonder to warmly compliment.