Smiles and tears

Smiles and tears

Why do men weep? With a world so full of sunshine?
Why do men sigh? The earth is still so fair
Why do men mourn for spent hopes and shatter’d dreams?
The sun, the streams, and the hills are still there

How can men hate? Breathing the clear air
Of heaven, seeing the sunset, hearing the roaring waves
How can men fight? Waging their cruel wars
Leaving a trail of ruin, tears and scattered graves?

Is life all tears? Nay, they’re but April showers
Sudden and fierce but soon spent and soon past
Tho’ grief come at night, joy cometh in the morning
And our tears will be smiles when dawn comes at last

The whole world is not all tears and pain
Our smiles are of God - like sunshine after rain

March 31st 1929. Age 15.

This is another poem from the back of Lorna's book Told round the fire.