Self-Discipline

It isn't always the one can smile
And be cheery, pleasant all the while;
It isn't ever that all day long
One can give voice to up-welling song;
For some days the smile just will die,
And the fount of song within will dry.

Yet there's no more need to be a grouch,
Than to be a dirty, careless slouch!
There's no need at all to snap and snarl
Like an odious, bickering, vicious churl!
One need not to others such banners fly,
If one has the will power to simply try!

A person must practice all the while
The art of carrying a cheery smile;
If everything just would go wrong,
The thing to do is to hum a song;
That's what makes one's burdens lighter!
That's what makes the world seem brighter!

Stanzas For Kansas
Leonard Allen Prowant
(Wichita, Kansas: __. 1937)
Page 33