–Anonymous

I saw them tearing a building down,

A gang of men in this busy town;

With a ho-heave-ho and a mighty yell,

They swung a beam and the side wall fell.

I asked the foreman: “Are these men skilled?

Like the men you’d hire if you had to build?”

He said with a laugh, “No indeed–

Common labor is all I need.

I can easily wreck in a day or two

What it has taken a builder ten years to do.”

I thought to myself as I went my way,

Which of these roles have I tried to play?

Am I the builder who builds with care,

Measuring life with rule and square?

Am I shaping my deeds to a well-made plan,

Carefully doing the best I can–

Or am I the wrecker who walks the town

Content with the labor of tearing down?