Plant a Garden

Edgar A. Guest

If your purse no longer bulges

and you've lost your golden treasure,

If times you think you're lonely

and have hungry grown for pleasure,

Don't sit by your hearth and grumble,

don't let mind and spirit harden.

If it's thrills of joy you wish for

get to work and plant a garden!

If it's drama that you sigh for,

plant a garden and you'll get it

You will know the thrill of battle

fighting foes that will beset it

If you long for entertainment and

for pageantry most glowing,

Plant a garden and this summer spend

your time with green things growing.

If it's comradeship you sight for,

learn the fellowship of daisies.

You will come to know your neighbor

by the blossoms that he raises;

If you'd get away form boredom

and find new delights to look for,

Learn the joy of budding pansies

which you've kept a special nook for.

If you ever think of dying

and you fear to wake tomorrow

Plant a garden! It will cure you

of your melancholy sorrow

Once you've learned to know peonies,

petunias, and roses,

You will find every morning

some new happiness discloses