One year to live

If I had but one year to live;
One year to help; One year to give
One year to love; One year to bless;
One year of better things to stress;
One year to sing; One year to smile;
To brighten the earth a little while;
I think that I would spend each day
In the very self-same way
That I do now. From afar
The call may come to cross the bar
At any time, and I must be
Prepared to meet eternity
So if I have one year to live,
Or just a day in which to give
A pleasant smile, a helping hand
A mind that tries to understand
A fellow-creature when in need
'Tis one with me, - I take no heed;
But try to live each day He sends
To serve my gracious master's ends.

Mary Davis Reed