Which kind of person are you?

Hey there. Hope all is well with you. Not too much doing in my little world.

I got a couple rejections this week and also the news that my story “Amanuensis” was a finalist in the Portable Story  “moment of truth” series. Congrats go to Matthew B. Kelley whose story “Daddy’s Record” will be recorded and posted on the site. The next call is for writing on “fear.”  Maybe you have something to submit?

“There are two kinds of people in this world” is a phrase you hear often. I don’t know if that statement is true; I tend to see lots of exceptions and gray areas.  I have touched on this theme slightly in one of my poems “Taxonomy,” which I shared in a post last year. (You can read it here.)

But regardless of whether there are two kinds of people, I found this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox to remain timely even today (except maybe for use of the word “ween,” which is not in current vocabulary). Sometimes I think my next project should be a collection of public domain poems that still are relevant.

Hope this post makes you think; maybe you’ve a poem you want to write about the two (or more) kinds of people in the world.

Peace, love, and solace

 

Which are You?

THERE are two kinds of people on earth to-day;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it’s well understood,
The good are half bad, and the bad are half good.
Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man’s wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life’s little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.
Wherever you go, you will find the earth’s masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,
There’s only one lifter to twenty who lean.
In which class are you? Are you easing the load,
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor, and worry and care?

Ella Wheeler Wilcox