I am content with daily household tasks,
The weekly round, the circle of the year.
Each in his own good time and season asks
Order and comfort, happiness and cheer.

Happy am I to watch my garden swell,
Springing from earth alive with rain and dew,
Unfolding hourly Nature's miracle^__
Old as the ages, yet forever new.

No, never lonely. These books by the fire^__
Constant companionship of clever minds^__
The quivering ether and the whispering wire^__
And life before me like a reel unwinds.

Nor do I lack the human touch; a friend or two
To share a book, a fruit, a flower; at ease
To watch the whole wide world go marching through^__
"Stagnation", say you? No, I call it peace.

^__Mary K. Holmes, Hiawatha.