FRIEND OR FOE?

There's a man I know —

A likeable man —

Whom you meanly wound

Whenever you can,

Remark with malice

His task is done ill,

He's poor of judgment

And weak of will.

I implore you, now,

As that poor man's friend,

Let persecution

Have speediest end.

Cease taunting the man

With blunders he makes,

Cease harping alway

On wrongs and mistakes.

Come, be his good friend —

Hail fellow, well met —

His failures forgive,

And his faults forget.

Who is the man you've

Discouraged and blamed?

The man is yourself —

Are you not ashamed?

For faults of the past

Make ample amends,

And you and yourself

Be the best of friends.