MISCELLANEOUS POEMS

OPPORTUNITY

Master of human destinies am I,

Fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait.
Cities and fields I walk. I penetrate
Deserts and seas remote, and, passing by
Hovel and mart and palace, soon or late,
I knock unbidden once at every gate.
If sleeping, wake; if feasting, rise, before
I turn away. It is the hour of fate.
And they who follow me reach every state
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
Save death; but those who hesitate,
Condemned to failure, penury and woe,
Seek me in vain and uselessly implore,
I answer not and I return no more.

The foregoing lines from the pen of the talented Ingalls, U. S. Senator from Kansas, 1873-91, have been more widely quoted, perhaps, than any of his other writings, and yet they seem to have little merit. This great country is teeming with oppor tunities and thousands have, in every department of human activity, proven the falsity of the assertion that opportunity knocks but once. would amend as follows:

MAN

Master of Opportunity am I,

Fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait.
Cities, Nations I build. I penetrate
Deserts and seas remote and passing by
Dwellers in hovel or palace, soon or late,
I reach at will, my coveted estate.
Courage and energy are mine, yea more;
Power I have to seal my fate.

Unless I choose to dally, doubt or hesitate,
I subdue and conquer every foe
Save death; my worth I can create,
Fearing not failure, penury or woe;
All vainly seek and uselessly implore
To drag me from ideals I adore.

I

Fearing not failure, penury or woe;
All vainly seek and uselessly implore
To drag me from ideals I adore.

THE AMERICAN DESERT

When the Lord of the heavens was finishing earth
With its marvelous beauty and wonderful worth,
And when he had coated with emerald green
The plain and the valley and mountainous scene
He found in his store-house a mountain of stuff,
Of shale dirt and other things still in the rough.

Pray what shall I do, thought the Ruler so kind,
And where can I pile up this rubbish I find?
The mountains I've made full of silver and gold
And other material of value untold;

It never will do to cover them deep
From the eyes of mankind forever to sleep.

The valleys and plains with their grasses and trees,
I cannot afford to cover up these.

So He sent out his angels all over the land,
To spy out a place where nothing but sand
And cacti and rocks were open to view,
Where rain never falls the earth to renew.

Soon in came an angel of beauty and grace,
Saying, "Lord I have found Thee a very fine place
Where the refuse of earth may be stored in a heap,
Where naught but the reptiles of poison may sleep.
Grim solitude stalks in the place I have found
And rain never falls to moisten the ground.
The heat of the sun scorches every thing green.
Indeed 'tis a desert, the place I have seen."
"Well done, faithful servant," the Lord then
replied.

"To finish the world, I am now satisfied."

Then He turned to His workmen and said with a smile

"Throw the rubbish that's left in a long rugged pile At the base of the Rockies, along the west side, Where the reptiles of Satan within it may hide.”

Twas done: and would thus in its solitude ever remain

Had not the white man crossed over the plain.
He made streams of water run over the hills
And gladdened the soil with the brooks and the
rills.

Where grass never grew, he made it to grow, Where trees never blossomed, he made them to blow,

Where fruit never ripened the finest is grown,
The valleys, each year, with rich harvests are

strewn.

The guides of the railways are fulsome with praise Of the wonderful crops the people can raise

Who reside in the valleys once barren of grain, Where the water ditch now takes the place of the rain;

Where cities are built of the rocks and the sand That were dropped as a waste in this desolate land. The sage brush and cactus have yielded their place In the great onward march of the civilized race.

A RUINED LIFE

A beautiful maiden, with never a care,
With a father and mother so kind,

Was wooed by a lover, who thought she was fair
And to wed her he made up his mind.

He brought her rich gifts, so devoted he seemed That she yielded at last to his plea,

And when in his presence and on her he beamed, Became happy as happy could be.