Dust If You Must, A Poem by Rose Milligan.

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, and the wind in your hair;

A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,

This day will not come around 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.

By Rose Milligan

Dust If You Must is my favourite poem.

It was introduced to me by my grandma many years ago. In my youthful naivety, I thought the poem was about cleaning!….. I was so busy trying to be a good wife, mum, daughter, employee as well as a domestic goddess, that the time passed in a flash.

Now I don’t care if I can’t see my face in the oven door or there is dust underneath the bed. I do what needs to be done and no more. It took a long time to understand the significance of the poem but, finally, now I get it!

Sadly, my grandmother is no longer around. If she was here today I would thank her for introducing me to this inspiring poem and for her wisdom. I read it often when the pressures of day to day life get on top of me.

I have also given a copy of the poem to my daughter and made sure that she understands the meaning!

The greatest gift we have is the gift of time…don’t waste it!

Thank you for reading.