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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE POINT OF VIEW by DOUGLAS MALLOCH

First Line: I GUESS IT IS ALL IN THE POINT OF VIEW
Last Line: FOR I'M NOT AS POOR AS I SEEM TO BE.

I guess it is all in the point of view --
That a joy is a joy or a pain a pain,
That a thing is easy or hard to do,
That the heart will sing or the heart complain,
According to how it appeals to you.

There's a little house by the P.R.R. --
I bet you have passed it lots of times
As you sat alone in your parlor car --
Perhaps you've seen how the ivy climbs,
Hiding each crack and stain and scar.

Yes, I know you have. That's an ivy vine
That you seldom see in a land so young.
I planted it back in '@35@19,
And through all the years like a friend it's clung
To this little old humble house of mine.

And the roses, too, you must have seen --
Two perfect ones by the open door,
As pink as the cheeks of a fairy queen.
On the southward side there are seven more,
White, yellow, and all of the shades between.

And here I water and 'tend and prune
And watch and gather and fool along
And know about all there is of tune
And hear about all there is of song --
And that's a heap in the month of June.

I figure you see me, riding by,
You busy man with your big affairs,
And think what a life to live, to die
Of all of the wide world unawares.
But it's all in the point of view, say I.

You may pity me. It's a funny thing,
But I never pity myself at all:
I stir the ground when the robins sing,
And then it's Summer, and then it's Fall,
Along comes Winter -- and then it's Spring.

I guess it's all in the way you see,
I guess it's all in the view you take;
And you needn't sorrow nor sob for me
When you think of the wealth that others make --
For I'm not as poor as I seem to be.



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