Be the Best

If you can’t be a pine on top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley – but be
The best little scrub on 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 grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie, then just be a bass -
But be the liveliest bass in the lake.
We all can’t be captains, we’ve 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!

~ Douglas Malloch, poet