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A Heap o' Livin'

Chapter 2: INDEX OF FIRST LINES
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About This Book

The volume gathers short, accessible poems that celebrate ordinary life: family moments, childhood play, domestic labor, small-town observations and everyday struggles. Each poem pairs plainspoken narration with upbeat moral reflections—praise for kindness, contentment, industry, and cheerful resilience—and often uses affectionate scenes of parents, children, neighbors, and humble pleasures to derive consolation or counsel. Recurring tones include nostalgia for boyhood, gentle humor, and a steady emphasis on decency and gratitude. The collection moves between brief character sketches, reflective creeds, and homespun vignettes that valorize common experience and simple joys.

INDEX OF FIRST LINES

  A man doesn't whine at his losses…………. 142
  A man must earn his hour of peace…………. 109
  Are you fond of your wife and your children… 57
  As fall the leaves, so drop the days………. 188
  A smudge on his nose and a smear on his
    cheek………………………………… 13
  A table cloth that slightly soiled………… 118
  A touch of the plain and the prairie………. 96
  At Sugar Camp the cook is kind……………. 26

  Be a friend. You don't need money…………. 97
  Before we take an auto ride Pa says to Ma….. 22
  Be grateful for the kindly friends………… 179
  Be more than his dad…………………….. 128

  Can't is the worst word that's written…….. 52
  Cheek that is tanned by the wind of the north. 59
  Courage isn't a brilliant dash……………. 72

  Did you ever sit down and talk with men……. 163
  Does the grouch get richer quicker………… 14

  Foxes can talk if you know how to listen…… 80
  Full many a time a thought has come……….. 103

  Gentle hands that never weary…………….. 140
  God grant me kindly thought………………. 121

  He little knew the sorrow that was in his
    vacant chair………………………….. 24
  He spent what he made, or he gave it away….. 124
  He was going to be all that a mortal should… 120
  He wiped his shoes before his door………… 132
  How do you tackle your work each day………. 62
  How fine it is at night to say……………. 164
  "How much do babies cost?" said he………… 18

  I am selfish in my wishin' every sort o' joy.. 20
  I believe in the world…………………… 168
  I'd like to be a boy again……………….. 16
  I'd like to be the sort of friend…………. 32
  I'd like to be the sort of man……………. 112
  I'd like to leave but daffodills………….. 75
  I do not say new friends are not considerate.. 34
  I do not think all failure's undeserved……. 77
  If I had hatred in my heart………………. 173
  If never a sorrow came to us……………… 85
  I might not ever scale the mountain heights… 143
  I'm not the man to say that failure's sweet… 43
  I'm the bumps and bruises doctor………….. 107
  I'm up against it day by day……………… 166
  I never knew, until they went…………….. 49
  It's an easy world to live in if you choose… 158
  It's coming time for planting…………….. 44
  It's guessing time at our house…………… 148
  It's September, and the orchards are afire…. 60
  It's the dull road that leads to the gay road. 67
  It's tough when you are homesick………….. 117
  It takes a heap o' livin' in a house to make
    it home………………………………. 28
  I've sipped a rich man's sparkling wine……. 74
  I've told about the times that Ma can't find
    her pocketbook………………………… 94

  Lady in the show case carriage……………. 122
  Less hate and greed……………………… 58
  Let others sing their songs of war………… 82
  Life is a challenge to the bold…………… 145
  Life is a gift to be used every day……….. 63
  Little Master Mischievous, that's the name…. 38

  Ma has a dandy little book……………….. 100
  Ma says no, it's too much care……………. 116
  Men are of two kind, and he………………. 180
  Most every night when they're in bed………. 64
  Most folks, as I've noticed, in pleasure an'
    strife……………………………….. 176
  My father often used to say………………. 185
  My Pa he eats his breakfast………………. 50

  Never a sigh for the cares that she bore…… 19
  Nobody hates me more than I………………. 170
  None knows the day that friends must part….. 33
  No one is beat till he quits……………… 111
  Not for the sake of the gold……………… 93

  One day, in ages dim and dark…………….. 177
  Only a dad with a tired face……………… 42

  Pa's not so very big or brave…………….. 108
  People liked him, not because…………….. 152
  Promotion comes to him who sticks…………. 174

Right must not live in idleness…………… 85

  She is fair to see and sweet……………… 130
  So long as men shall be on earth………….. 39
  Some are eager to be famous………………. 182
  Some folks leave home for money…………… 70
  Some folks I know, when friends drop in……. 144

  Take home a smile; forget the petty cares….. 71
  Thankful for the glory of the old Red, White
    and Blue……………………………… 98
  The happiest nights……………………… 110
  The green is in the meadow……………….. 86
  The kids are out-of-doors once more……….. 104
  The little path that leads to home………… 30
  The man who wants a garden fair…………… 56
  There is no star within the flag………….. 160
  There must be great rejoicin' on the Golden
    Shore to-day………………………….. 54
  There's a heap of pent-up goodness………… 84
  There's a lot of joy in the smiling world….. 40
  There's a wondrous smell of spices………… 66
  There's nothing that builds up a toil-weary
    soul…………………………………. 102
  There was a bear—his name was Jim………. 134
  The skies are blue and the sun is out……… 78
  The sumac's flaming scarlet………………. 136
  The things that haven't been done before…… 172
  The things that make a soldier great………. 114
  The world's too busy now to pause…………. 92
  'Tis better to have tried in vain…………. 83
  To do your little bit of toil…………….. 133
  To gentle ways I am inclined……………… 90
  To happiness I raise my glass…………….. 146
  To live as gently as I can……………….. 15
  Time was when spring returned we went……… 156
  'Twas not so many years ago………………. 154

Used to wonder just why father……………. 46

  We can be great by helping one another…….. 73
  We was speakin' of folks, jes' common folks… 36
  When an apple tree is ready for the world….. 68
  When God first viewed the rose He'd made…… 184
  When he was only nine months old………….. 76
  When I was young and frivolous……………. 150
  When Pa comes home, I'm at the door……….. 138
  "When shall I be a man?" he said………….. 126
  When the hair about the temples starts to
    show the signs of gray…………………. 186
  When you get to know a fellow…………….. 11
  Who does his task from day to day…………. 91
  Who has a troop of romping youth………….. 21
  Who once has had a friend has found……….. 167

  You cannot gather every rose……………… 141
  You can talk about your music…………….. 106
  You do not know it, little man……………. 88
  You don't begrudge the labor……………… 113
  You ought to be fine for the sake of the folks 162