AM I A BUILDER?

AM I A BUILDER?

I watched them tearing a building down,
A gang of men in a busy town.

With a ho-heave-ho and a lusty yell,
They swung a beam and the sides fell.

I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled
And the kind you would hire, if you had to build?”

And he gave me a laugh and said, “No indeed,
Just common labor is all I need.

I can easily wreck in a day or two
What other builders have taken a year to do.”

And I thought to myself as I went my way,
“Which of these roles have I tried to play?”

Am I a builder that works with care,
Measuring life by the rule and square.

Am I shaping my deeds to a well made plan,
Patiently doing the best I can?

Or am I a wrecker who walks the town,
Content with the labor of tearing down.”