Alfred Drake - The Olive Tree

{THE POET}
A fool sat beneath an olive tree
And a wondrous thought had he
So he rose and he told it to the sky
And where was I?
Behind the tree
I overheard his reverie

"Why be content with an olive
When you could have the tree
Why be content to be nothing
When there's nothing you couldn't be

Why be contented with one olive tree
When you could have a whole olive grove
Why be content with a grovе
When you could have the world?"

Thе fool stood beneath the olive tree
"What a wondrous thought," said he
"But alas, it is very, very deep"!
And then he yawned
And went to sleep
Because you see, he was a fool!

"Why be content with an olive
When you could have the tree"
That which has lulled you to sleep, fool
Has awakened me!
Why should I sigh that my lot is my lot
That I can't make anything more
When this is a lie
An excuse for a fool to snore!
I walked from behind the olive tree
With a wondrous change in me
For I walked, with my eye upon a star
If you have heard, and do not heed
There is a word for what you are
And oh, my friend
The word is "fool!"