The Fellow Living Beside

Do you know the neighbor who lives in your block?

Do you ever take time for a bit of talk?

Do you know his troubles, his heartaches, his cares,

The battles he's fighting, the burdens he bears?

Do you greet him with joy or pass him right by

With a questioning look and a quizzical eye?

Do you bid him "Good morning" and "How do you do?"

Or shrug up as if he was nothing to you?

He may be a chap with a mighty big heart

And a welcome that grips, if you just do your part.

And I know you'll coax out his sunniest smile

If you'll stop with this neighbor and visit awhile.

We rush on so fast in these strenuous days;

We're apt to find fault when it's better to praise.

We judge a man's worth by the make of his car;

We're anxious to find what his politics are.

But somehow it seldom gets under the hide,

The fact that the fellow we're living beside

Is a fellow like us, with a hankering too

For a grip of the hand and a "How do you do?"

With a heart that responds in a welcome sincere

If you'll just stop to fling him a message of cheer.

And I know you'll coax out his sunniest smile,

If you'll stop with this neighbor and visit awhile.

By H. Howard Biggar