Be the best of whatever you are

Poem1 min read

By Douglas Malloch

If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill, Be a scrub in the valley - But be the best little scrub by the side of the hill; Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.

If you can’t be a bush, be a bit of the grass, Some highway happier make; If you can’t be a muskie, then just be a bass - But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can’t all be captains, we got to be crew, There’s something for all of us here, There’s big work to do, and there’s lesser to do, And the task we must do is the near.

If you can’t be a highway, then just be a trail, If you can’t be the sun, be a star; It isn’t by size that you win or you fail - Be the best of whatever you are.

Did this story lift you up?

Share it with someone

From the archive

Inspire21 archive

Collected and shared by the Inspire21 editors for over 25 years. The original author is often unknown.

Up next

Poems

Hello God I Called Tonight

A gentle prayer poem written as a nightly phone call to God, asking for faith, guidance and a safe family, and giving thanks for a line that is never busy.

PoemInspire21 archive1 min

More poems stories

See all