LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT.
A GOOD-BY kiss is a little thing,
With your hand on the door to go,
But it takes the venom out of the sting
Of a thoughtless word or a cruel fling
That you made an hour ago. A kiss of greeting is sweet and rare
After the toil of day,
And it smooths the furrows plowed by care,
The lines on the forehead you once called fair,
In the years that have flown away. ’Tis a little thing to say, “You are kind;
I love you, my dear,” each night,
But it sends a thrill through your heart, I find,
For love is tender, love is blind,
As we climb life’s rugged height. We starve each other for love’s caress,
We take, but we do not give;
It seems so easy some soul to bless,
But we dole the love grudgingly less and less,
Till ’tis bitter and hard to live.