I heard a man in Paradise
Say this to God: “Let’s advertise!
You’ve got a proposition here
On which you’d make a billion clear
If I could manage things my way.
My plan is this: Make earth-folks pay
For what you give them, night and day.
For instance, take the Milky Way;
To see that glittering display
I’d charge them fifty cents a night;
To purchase tickets folks would fight.
We’ll charge for flowers, and song of bird--
Why give them free? Why, it’s absurd!
One dollar for each sunset view,
The same for every sunrise, too.
Fall landscapes will be costly sights,
We’ll reap a sum from mountain heights.
Green curving breakers will come high,
And men will pay to hear winds sigh.”
Then God replied, when he had done,
“I charge for all these things, my son.
And costly--costly is my fee:
A heart of childlike purity!”