"Am I A Builder?"
The true title and author of this piece are unknown. However, this verse was quoted by M:W: Dean C. Mabry, the Grand Master of Colorado, in his address to the 111th Annual Communication of the G.L. of Colorado AF&AM, January 24th and 25th, 1972.
I watched them tearing a building down, A gang of men in a busy town. With a ho-heave-ho and a lusty yell, They swung a beam and the sides fell. I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled And the kind you would hire, if you had to build?" And he gave a laugh and said, No indeed, Just common labor is all I need. I can easily wreck in a day or two What other builders have taken a year to do." And I thought to myself as I went my way, "Which of these roles have I tried to play? Am I a builder that works with care Measuring life by the rule and square. Am I shaping my deeds to a well made plan, Patiently doing the best I can? Or am I a wrecker who walks the town, Content with the labor of tearing down."