Like Other Men

You praise the actor on the stage,

      You marvel at his skill;

You think his “way” when at the play,

      Is just enough to kill.

You think his life a perfect dream,

      A rare existence, when

As many know, beyond the show

      He lives like other men.

The poet and the preacher too,

      You think perhaps are great;

And from their height of power and might

      You envy them their state.

But when you bring them down to you,

      These lords of tongue and pen,

You’ll find them all, both great and small,

      Just like other men.

The robber, too, him who you fear,

      You wonder at his life,

You wonder if he’s kind at home,

      If he has a babe and wife.

I’ve never robbed, so cannot say,

      But I will bet you ten,

His life apart from burgling art

      Is just like other men.

O geniuses perhaps are rare,

      And lords and kings are great;

They’re very swell, and weave a spell

      When they appear in state.

But right down home, in daily life,

      Were it for us to ken,

We’d find them all, both great and small,

      Just like other men.

Joe Cone

April 17, 1900