Dust If You Must

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better

To paint a picture or write a letter,

Bake a cake or plant a seed,

Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time, 

With rivers to swim and mountains to climb,

Music to hear, and books to read, 

Friends to cherish and life to lead. 

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there, 

With the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair, 

A flutter of snow, a shower of rain. 

This day will not come round again. 

Dust if you must, but bear in mind, 

Old age will come and it’s not kind. 

And when you go - and go you must - 

You, yourself, will make more dust. 

~ Rose Milligan 

Originally Published in The Lady (1998)