I watched them tearing a building down
A gang of men in a busy town.
With a Ho-Heave-Ho, a lusty yell
They swung a beam and a side wall fell.
I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled
And the men you'd hire if you had to build?"
"For the most part," he said, "No indeed.
Just common labor is all I need.
I can easily wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken a year to do."
And I thought to myself, as I went away,
Which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder, who works with care,
Measuring life by the rule and square?
- Anonymous
