On Thinking Glad by John Kendrick Bangs
Never mind a change of scene
Try a change of thinking.
What if things seem sordid, mean,
What’s the use of blinking?
Life’s not always storm and cloud,
Somewhere stars are shining.
Try to think your joys out loud,
Silence all repining.
By degrees, by thinking light,
Thinking glad and sweetly,
You’ll escape the stress of night,
Worry gone completely.
Get the habit looking for
Sunbeams pirouetting,
Tapping gaily at your door
Surest cure for fretting.
Needn’t fool yourself at all,
For there’s no denying
E’en above a prison wall
Song-birds are aflying.
Wherefore hearken to the song,
Never mind the prison,
And you’ll find your soul ere long
Unto freedom risen.