To A Friend

To the Parishs especially!

You entered my life in a casual way,
You saw at a glance what I needed;
There were others who passed me or met me each day,
But never a one of them heeded.
Perhaps you were thinking of other folks more,
Or chance simply seemed to decree it;
I know there were many such chances before,
But the others- well, they didn't see it.


You said just the things that I wished you would say,
And you made me believe that you meant it;
I held up my head in the old gallant way,
And resolved you should never repent it.
There are times when encouragement means such a lot,
And a word is enough to convey it;
There were others who could have, as easy as not
But, just the same, they didn't say it.


There may have been some one who could have done more
To help me along, but I doubt it;
What I needed was cheering, and always before
They had let me plod onward without it.
You helped to refashion the dream of my heart,
And made me turn eagerly toward it;
There were others who might have (I question that part)-
But, after all, they didn't do it.

From The Best Loved Poems of the American People, edited by Hazel Felleman, copyright 1936.