And If I Did Not Make Mistakes

And If I Did Not Make Mistakes

And if I did not make mistakes And give too brief a thought to heavy questions And too much time to little matter; Or if I always knew which road to travel Where every step would lead me into daylight And if each face that turned to watch me pass Was broken by a smile; Or if whenever I should choose to lay my heart Bare upon the sun-warmed grass, It always was returned with tender touches And carried by a song; And if my heaviest burden were only to be A breeze upon my back, and blossom in my hair, And my brow was never crossed with lines of pain; If all this endless summer were my lot And winter's fury never beat me back, Then I never would have seen the stormy nights Through which I've struggled, fought and won; I never would have known the joy of needed comfort given, Or the essence of a friend. Written by Katie Paton