-Elizabeth Brewster
I remember an old lady who once said to me,
"Why are young persons bored? If you are bored,
Consider the object nearest you,
Whether it's geranium on your window sill,
Or a cup, or a glass, or a box of matches.
Do you understand it thoroughly?
Could you make it?
If you understand it,
Then you are a scientist
And a philosopher.
If you can make it,
You have a craft or at least a hobby.
If you can do neither,
Admire the skill of God or your fellow labourer,
And recognize your own ignorance."
And so I sit this morning
Watching a fly which has landed
And is crawling laboriously
On the edge of the flowered sugar bowl
Half full of white, shining sweet crystals.