Life

by

Edgar Guest

Life is a gift to be used every day,
Not to be smothered and hidden away;
It isn’t a thing to be stored in the chest
Where you gather your keepsakes and treasure your best;
It isn’t a joy to be sipped now and then
And promptly put back in a dark place again.
Life is a gift that the humblest may boast of
And one that the humblest may well make the most of.
Get out and live it each hour of the day,
Wear it and use it as much as you may;
Don’t keep it in niches and corners and grooves,
You’ll find that in service its beauty improves.

Edgar Guest (1881 – 1959)

was born in England,
but moved with his family to Detroit, Michigan, when he was ten years old.
He worked for more than sixty years at the Detroit Free Press.
Guest published his first poem at the age of seventeen,
then went on to become a reporter and columnist
whose work was featured in hundreds of newspapers around the country.

Edgar is said to have written some 11,000 poems during his lifetime.

Critics often derided his work, but America adored him.
He was known as the “People’s Poet,” served as Michigan’s poet laureate,
hosted a long-running radio show and TV show, and published more than twenty books.

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It is not until the story is finished, do others get to sum up the weight of “a life.”  Guest’s life by all accounts was a life-well-lived.  I think that the pivot point leading to a life well lived is an attitude of gratitude, that of a curious recipient…

Life is the ultimate useful gift, the greatest gift that you and I could receive.