THE MAN

A boy smiled at me one day.

His friends had gone outdoors to play;

But he was there among us men.

He was the man of his house then.

Only eleven, and yet he knew,

To his brother and sister he must be true .

The man who fathered him was gone.

He and his mother were on their own.

He was the eldest, he must be strong;

No time to speak of right and wrong;

No time to blame, but time to care,

Time to serve, and time to share.

One day he'll be a man in size;

But he's a man now, in my eyes.

Clarence Ogle