Spearmint Long

SPEARMINT 'LONG The old town has a charm for me, Its yards and old stone walls, Its twinin' vines and bloomin,' shrubs On which the sun-light falls; I love its lanes and dreamin' trees, Each corner and each nitch, But best of all, I'll ever love The spearmint 'long the ditch. The pungent smell, so clean, so cool — Sweet incense rises now, As breezes from the old home town Play 'round my moistened brow; Through years and years they've come to me With memories so rich That I can smile and smell again The spearmint 'long the ditch. That homey smell brings back the past, So plain that I can see The boys and girls I loved so well That ranged the town with me; I hear their laughter and their shouts As through the weeds and sich We plunged to bathe our burning cheeks In spearmint-scented ditch. The old log school has been replaced; The church is something grand; The streets are paved where once we played; There is a silver band, But I go out where all is still, Beneath the sunset rich, And sip the odors that arise Along that grass-grown ditch. B. Y. U., Provo, Utah. H. R. Merrill