s a sign
We're not the _guests_ of the Government--_we're in The Service now._

A cog in the big machine? Maybe--
But a cog that doesn't complain, you see--
We're _all_ of us part of The Service!

THE DISAPPOINTED

There's a Red Cross Button on his left lapel,
And a Liberty Bond pin on his right;
There's a U. S. flag above the Red Cross, too;
His patriotism's never out of sight!
His loyalty is spread on his hollow breast
(And sometimes he's pathetic, I confess),
But the button that he's most ashamed to wear
Is the one that reads

EXEMPT
U. S.

There's an aching heart in his 28-chest,
There's a look of deep longing in his eyes;
Behind his heavy glasses there gleams a hope
That maybe he can grow an inch in size!
There's a hero-throb in the heart of that boy,
Though he wears too much "scenery"--ah, yes!--
But the badge that hurts he really tries to hide--
It's the one that reads

EXEMPT
U. S.

You fellows that are in--have a heart for those
Who want to be, but can't! For they must know
A bitterness of soul you can never feel--
_They_ haven't got a chance on earth to go!
So it's, "Stay back home with the old and unfit,"
(There's nothing else to do but that, I guess!)
The badge he'd be glad to throw a mile away
Is the one that reads

EXEMPT
U. S.

GOODBYE, BOYS!

Line after line, you swung along,
You men, who only a while ago
Were just a part of the city's throng
Working for self, sedate and slow.
But now--what a diff'rence! Living throbs
Of the Nation's heart! Her reborn men;
And some who saw you gulped back sobs--
And wished you were marching home again!
Our eyes were dim as you went past,
For we _knew you_--at last!

We felt that every senseless joke
About a soldier, wherever made,
Would make _us_ ashamed.... For now we choke
Whenever the Colors and _you_ parade!
Wherever that O. D. uniform
Shall gladden the eyes of we useless men
We can't forget who is meeting the storm--
That some of you won't come home again!
You went.... We talked.... God blot the past!
For _we_ know _you_--at last!

THAT'S ALL

To take this trouble seriously,
But not to gloom or whine;
To never overestimate
Our strength, or to decline
To see this is no picnic,
But do our earnest part
With brain and muscles, newly